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IBM will link chips together in a relatively new way that the company says will improve performance and cut power consumption. The technology, called through-silicon vias, or TSV, involves connecting different components or different cores inside of two respective chips through thousands of tiny wires that will carry data back and forth. Now, chips mostly transfer data over channels called buses, which can get overwhelmed, embodied in wires. With TSV, far more data can be transferred per second in a less energy-intensive manner. IBM will deliver samples of communication chips with TSV to customers later this year and begin commercial production in 2008. TSV will reduce power consumption in silicon germanium chips, a favorite of IBM's, by around 40 percent. In these chips, microscopic holes will be drilled into the chip and filled with tungsten to create the TSVs.