AMD 2009 Annual Report Download - page 24

GF manufactures our microprocessor products at its facilities in Germany primarily on 45 nm and 65 nm
process technology. We also have foundry arrangements with third parties for the production of our embedded
processors, chipset products and graphics products.
With respect to our graphics and chipset products, we primarily work with Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing Company (TSMC). Currently, we are in volume production in TSMC’s 300 millimeter fabrication
facilities where our graphics and chipsets are manufactured on 40 nm, 55 nm, 65 nm, 80 nm, 90 nm, 110 nm, or
130 nm process technologies at third-party foundries. Smaller process geometries can lead to gains in graphics
processing performance, lower power consumption and lower per unit manufacturing costs. We are currently in
the process of qualifying 28 nm process technology for certain products.
We outsource board-level graphics product manufacturing to third-party manufacturers. These include
Foxconn and PC Partner with locations in China. Our facility in Markham, Ontario, Canada is primarily devoted
to prototyping for new graphics product introductions.
Although we currently purchase substantially all of our microprocessor wafers from GF pursuant to the
terms of a Wafer Supply Agreement, we own and operate three microprocessor assembly and test facilities. Our
microprocessor assembly and test facilities are described in the chart set forth below:
Facility Location
Approximate
Manufacturing
Area Square
Footage Activity
Penang, Malaysia .......................................... 206,000 Assembly
Singapore ................................................. 380,000 Test, Mark & Packaging
Suzhou, China ............................................. 44,000 Test, Mark & Packaging
Some assembly and final testing of our microprocessor and embedded processor products is performed by
subcontractors in the United States and Asia.
Wafers for our graphics products are delivered from the third party foundry to our test, assembly and
packaging partners, which include Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Group, Amkor, King Yuan Electronics,
Siliconware Precision Industries and STATS-Chippac, who package and test the final application-specific
integrated circuit.
Intellectual Property and Licensing
We rely on contracts and intellectual property rights to protect our products and technologies from
unauthorized third-party copying and use. Intellectual property rights include copyrights, patents, patent
applications, trademarks, trade secrets and maskwork rights. As of December 26, 2009, we had more than
approximately 4,000 patents in the United States and approximately 1,300 patent applications pending in the
United States. In certain cases, we have filed corresponding applications in foreign jurisdictions. We expect to
file future patent applications in both the United States and abroad on significant inventions, as we deem
appropriate. We do not believe that any individual patent, or the expiration thereof, is or would be material to our
business.
As is typical in the semiconductor industry, we have numerous cross-licensing and technology exchange
agreements with other companies under which we both transfer and receive technology and intellectual property
rights. One such agreement is the cross-license agreement that we entered into with Intel on November 11, 2009,
in connection with our settlement of litigation with Intel. Under the cross license agreement, Intel has granted to
us and our subsidiaries, and we have granted Intel and its subsidiaries, non-exclusive, royalty-free licenses to all
patents that are either owned or controlled by the parties at any time that have a first effective filing date or
priority date prior to the five-year anniversary of the effective date of the cross license agreement, referred to as
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