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Ann Cao

Huawei Technologies has released a new research paper showing its Tau Scaling Law-based semiconductor architecture can avoid overheating, which analysts view as a key technical hurdle for its anticipated Kirin 2026 smartphone chip.
The paper, authored by He Tingbo, chairwoman of the Huawei Scientist Committee and president of the company’s semiconductor business department, rebutted scepticism that vertically stacking logic circuits would create an insurmountable thermal bottleneck.
It was published on Friday on ChinaXiv, a publication platform for scientific papers that have yet to be peer reviewed.
Despite heat being “the sharpest concern on Tau Scaling Law”, the company’s measurements for its new Kirin chip “turned that objection upside down”, He wrote.
The paper said the Kirin 2026 chip ran cooler than its predecessor, while packing 55 per cent more transistors per square millimetre and cutting power use by up to 66 per cent on some key tasks.
The new chip reduces power consumption while increasing transistor density, allowing it to flexibly switch between functional constraints and peak performance
Kaiyuan Securities
The new chip reduces power consumption while increasing transistor density, allowing it to flexibly switch between functional constraints and peak performance
By vertically stacking active chip tiers, the design drastically shortened the physical distance that data signals must travel, cutting energy waste across neural processing units, graphics processing units, central processing units and digital signal processors – modules that dominate a smartphone chip’s thermal budget, the paper said. It also significantly boosted transistor density over last year’s Kirin 9030 Pro.
Analysts said the findings guarantee performance for the coming launch of Huawei’s next flagship Mate series smartphones.
In a research note to clients on Saturday, domestic brokerage Kaiyuan Securities said the new architecture balanced raw performance with power savings.
Kaiyuan analysts said Huawei tackled this in two ways: it reduced source power density through folding to prevent localised high temperatures, while actively managing thermal layout during design by placing the most heat-intensive modules in positions with the clearest heat dissipation paths to achieve balance.
“The new chip reduces power consumption while increasing transistor density, allowing it to flexibly switch between functional constraints and peak performance,” they said.
Zheng Lei, chief economist at Samoyed Cloud Technology Group, said the method was “born out of necessity”, based on Huawei’s projections for its chip performance.
While this method had limits, there was room for development, Zheng said, adding he believed the new Kirin chip would successfully resolve its overheating issues using this method.
The paper is Huawei’s third since unveiling its Tau Scaling Law in May.
The theoretical framework, presented by He, claimed its LogicFolding architecture could achieve transistor densities equivalent to the cutting-edge 1.4-nanometre processes by 2031 without access to advanced extreme ultraviolet lithography machines banned for sale in China due to US sanctions.
In a second paper published in July, the company said its coming smartphone processor was on track for a 55 per cent density boost over the Kirin 9030 Pro, based on new production data.
Analysts also expected Huawei’s progress on heat management to ripple across a few domestic players who could also potentially help Huawei address the thermal issues.
Kaiyuan Securities suggested focusing on directions such as fabs, chip packaging and testing, and new chip equipment.
Zhang Xinyuan, an analyst from Beijing-based think tank Kefangde, said the principle could spur innovations in areas such as new semiconductor materials and 3D heterogeneous integration technologies.


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The research directly counters claims that vertical stacking creates a thermal bottleneck, the tech giant’s paper says


The research directly counters claims that vertical stacking creates a thermal bottleneck, the tech giant’s paper says.


Huawei paper shows Tau Scaling Law chip solves overheating ahead of Kirin 2026 launch

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The research directly counters claims that vertical stacking creates a thermal bottleneck, the tech giant’s paper says

The research directly counters claims that vertical stacking creates a thermal bottleneck, the tech giant’s paper says