01 Design & EDA
Architectures, processor IP and electronic design tools define the circuit and its physical layout.
STACK LEDGER / OPEN RESEARCH
More intelligence per watt.
Compute, memory, storage and networking chips make the AI factory possible. Design, fabrication, advanced packaging and manufacturing equipment turn ideas into working silicon.
INSIDE THE LAYER / HOW IT FITS TOGETHER
A processor is an entire supply chain.
Design becomes a physical device through fabrication, memory, packaging and test. Networking and storage silicon complete the system.
Power / energyData / processHeat removalReview / feedback
Original conceptual illustration, not a site plan or engineering specification. Arrows show selected relationships, not measured flows or capacity. Numbered components are explained below; select one in the diagram to jump to it.
02 Wafer fabrication
Foundries build patterned layers through repeated manufacturing steps, including lithography and etching.
03 Packaging & test
Assembly connects dies and memory; testing checks that the resulting device meets requirements.
04 Memory
DRAM and high-bandwidth memory hold working data; NAND supports persistent storage.
05 Links & controllers
Switches, network interfaces, DSPs and storage controllers move data between compute and storage.
06 Compute system
Accelerators, CPUs, memory and interconnects become a usable server or rack. A fab milestone alone is not a shipping system.
Technical context: ASML: How microchips are made ↗ · NVIDIA: Enterprise AI Factory Overview ↗