International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) is the industry-wide technology forecasting initiative that projects the future evolution of semiconductor devices, manufacturing processes, and computing systems — succeeding the ITRS in 2017 with a broader scope that extends beyond transistor scaling to encompass heterogeneous integration, advanced packaging, AI accelerators, neuromorphic computing, and system-level optimization, reflecting the shift from pure dimensional scaling to application-driven technology development.

What Is IRDS?

• Definition: A collaborative effort by IEEE and global semiconductor industry experts that publishes biennial roadmap reports projecting technology requirements and capabilities 15 years into the future, covering device architectures, lithography, interconnects, packaging, and emerging computing paradigms.
• ITRS Successor: The ITRS (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, 1999-2016) focused primarily on transistor scaling along Moore's Law — IRDS broadened the scope to include system-level considerations, recognizing that transistor scaling alone no longer drives computing progress.
• Application-Driven: Unlike ITRS which projected technology from the device up ("what can we build?"), IRDS projects from the application down ("what do we need?") — identifying the technology requirements for cloud computing, mobile, IoT, autonomous vehicles, and AI workloads.
• Focus Areas: IRDS covers 13 technical areas including More Moore (scaling), Beyond CMOS (new devices), Heterogeneous Integration, Systems and Architectures, Outside System Connectivity, and Emerging Research Materials.

Why IRDS Matters

• Industry Coordination: Semiconductor manufacturing requires synchronized development across hundreds of companies — IRDS provides the shared technology vision that aligns chip designers, foundries, equipment makers, and materials suppliers toward common targets.
• Investment Guidance: The roadmap identifies technology inflection points (GAA transistors, backside power delivery, high-NA EUV) years before they enter production, guiding multi-billion-dollar R&D and capital investment decisions.
• Research Direction: "Red brick walls" in the roadmap — areas where no known manufacturing solution exists — direct academic and government research funding toward the most critical technology gaps.
• Standards Development: IRDS projections inform standards bodies (JEDEC, UCIe consortium, CXL consortium) about future interface requirements, enabling timely standard development.

IRDS vs. ITRS

• ITRS Focus: Transistor dimensions, gate length, metal pitch, DRAM half-pitch — primarily physical scaling metrics driven by Moore's Law.
• IRDS Focus: System-level requirements (TOPS/W for AI, bandwidth/watt for data centers), heterogeneous integration, advanced packaging, and new computing paradigms alongside continued CMOS scaling.
• ITRS Assumption: Scaling benefits are universal — smaller transistors improve everything.
• IRDS Reality: Different applications need different optimizations — AI needs compute density, IoT needs ultra-low power, automotive needs reliability, and each drives different technology choices.

IRDS is the strategic compass of the semiconductor industry — projecting application-driven technology requirements across devices, packaging, and systems to coordinate the global ecosystem of chip designers, foundries, equipment makers, and materials suppliers toward the innovations needed to sustain computing progress in the post-Moore's Law era.