Fujitsu is making waves in the tech world with the unveiling of its ambitious new processor, Monaka. This isn’t just another chip; it’s a 144-core Armv9 powerhouse specifically engineered to power the data centers of tomorrow. The announcement follows last week’s news of Fujitsu’s collaboration with Broadcom, leveraging Broadcom’s advanced 3.5D eXtreme Dimension System in Package (3.5D XDSiP) platform. This partnership underscores the complexity and innovation behind Monaka’s design.
Monaka’s architecture is a marvel of engineering. It’s a large CoWoS system-in-package (SiP) incorporating four 36-core compute chiplets. Manufactured using TSMC’s cutting-edge N2 process node, these chiplets boast Armv9-based cores enhanced with significant improvements. These compute chiplets are stacked face-to-face (F2F) atop SRAM tiles, utilizing hybrid copper bonding (HCB) for superior performance and efficiency. These SRAM tiles, essentially massive caches, are built on TSMC’s N5 process node, providing incredibly fast access to data. The entire system is connected via a substantial I/O die, integrating a memory controller, PCIe 6.0 lanes, and CXL 3.0 support for seamless connectivity to accelerators and expanders. The use of mainstream DDR5 memory, likely in MR-DIMM or MCR-DIMM form, ensures scalability and cost-effectiveness for data center deployments.
The implications of Monaka are far-reaching. This processor directly challenges established players like AMD’s EPYC and Intel’s Xeon families. While the full performance profile remains to be seen, Fujitsu has boldly stated its aim to double the energy efficiency of competing processors by 2026-2027, and plans to achieve this using only air cooling. This commitment to efficiency represents a significant leap forward in data center sustainability.
Fujitsu anticipates Monaka-powered data centers to become a reality in fiscal year 2027 (April 1, 2026 – March 31, 2027). While we still have some time before Monaka enters the market, its innovative architecture and ambitious efficiency goals promise a significant shift in the data center landscape. The coming months will be crucial in observing its performance benchmarks and establishing its position in the competitive world of high-performance computing.
