Huawei unveils 'Tau Scaling Law' as China's workaround for US chip sanctions

Huawei presented a new semiconductor design approach focused on reducing signal-propagation time rather than continuing geometric transistor scaling. He Tingbo said the company has spent six years developing the Tau (τ) Scaling Law and is applying it across its chip lineup. The law centers design on the time signals and data take to move through a chip and its surrounding system. Huawei argues that shortening this time enables continued performance and effective transistor density without relying on manufacturing breakthroughs it cannot access. Huawei introduced LogicFolding to reorganize circuit layouts, shorten critical-path wiring, and reduce resistive and capacitive loads. Kirin chips launching in autumn will be the first to use it, and Huawei expects by 2031 high-end chips with transistor density comparable to a 1.4-nanometre process.

"He Tingbo, who runs Huawei's semiconductor business and chairs its Scientist Committee, told the conference the company has spent the past six years developing what it calls the Tau (τ) Scaling Law, and is now applying it across its chip line. The proposition is that geometric scaling, the steady shrinking of transistors that has guided the industry for more than fifty years, is no longer doing the work it used to."

"The τ Scaling Law puts the time it takes for signals and data to move through a chip and its surrounding system at the centre of design instead, according to the company's announcement. Shorten that time, the argument runs, and you can keep pushing performance and effective transistor density without depending on the manufacturing breakthroughs Huawei has been cut off from."

"He used the keynote, titled "New Semiconductor Path in Practice", to introduce an architecture called LogicFolding, which Huawei said reorganises circuit layouts to shorten critical-path wiring and reduce the resistive and capacitive load on signal propagation. The Kirin chips scheduled for launch in the autumn will be the first to ship with it, the company said."

"By 2031, Huawei expects to design high-end chips with transistor density equivalent to a 1.4-nanometre process, a band most of the industry expects to reach toward the end of the decade through extreme ultraviolet lithography that Chinese firms cannot legally buy. Huawei did not publish independent performance data to support the projection."

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