LONDON -- Processor and related intellectual propertylicensor ARM Holdings plc has expanded its range of processor optimizationpacks (POPs) available for 40-nm and 28-nm manufacturing processes from foundryTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd.
While companies can licenses cores and architectures andthen design SoCs but this can be a slow and expensive business. For the lasttwo years ARM (Cambridge, England) has been licensing processor optimizationpacks (POPs) as additional support which demonstrates how to implement a coreto achieve specific area, power, performance trade-offs.
The POP provides Artisan physical IP in the form of logiclibraries and memory instances that are specifically tuned for a given ARM coreand process technology. The POP includes a benchmarking report to document theexact conditions and results ARM achieved for the core implementation. Finally,it includes a design guide detailing how ARM achieved its results, to enablethe end customer to achieve the same implementation quickly and at low risk, orto use it as a starting point for minor deviations.
ARM has now released nine additional POPs for the Cortex-A5,A7, A9, and A15 on several TSMC 40-nm and 28-nm processes. It also aids withcompleting multicore designs. The approach, which does not go as far as a hardmacro, leaving developers the option to tweak designs, can still be used toreduced risk and improve time to market, ARM argues.
The company did not disclose the cost of the POP license feeeither in absolute terms or in relation to a processor core license.
The addition of POPs for the Cortex-A7 and Cortex-A15 coreson TSMC's 28HPM process provides support for ARM's big-little tandem coreprocessing solution. This allows background tasks to be supported on the powerefficient A7 when equipment is dormant or under light load, but for processingto migrate to the higher performance A15 when workloads escalate. Support forbig-little on TSMC 28HP high performance process is expected to follow soon.
ARM's lead licensee for the Cortex-A15 POP for TSMC 28nm HPMis progressing toward the tape out of its first chip in the coming months, ARMsaid.
Additions to ARM's range of processor optimization packs(POPs) include support for the A15-A7 combination on TSMC's 28HPM.
This story was originally posted by EETimes.
