Items tagged with (NASDAQ:ARMH)
When we think of processors used in the enterprise market, Intel Xeon or AMD EPYC x86-64 families typically comes to mind. Intel has the lion's share of the market, with AMD steadily gaining traction ever since its Zen architecture birthed first-generation EPYC 7001 processors. However, Arm is also a player in this space with its Neoverse CPU architecture, which first debuted in 2019. Neoverse N2: Cloud-to-Edge Performance Greatness Amazon Web Services (AWS) deployed its and Graviton2 processor, while Ampere has made waves with its Altra; both processors are based on Arm's Neoverse N1 architecture. Today, Arm is ready to take the next giant leap in performance with the launch of Neoverse N2....
Read more...
Arm processor architecture helps make the world go-'round, as chips using the instruction set and core architecture reside in various devices from smartphones/tablets to automotive applications, smart TVs and appliances, and networking equipment. Most tech enthusiasts, however, are primarily familiar with Arm architecture in consumer devices like Android smartphones (typically powered by Qualcomm-designed Snapdragon Arm-based SoCs) and Apple devices (iPhones and the new M1 Macs), which typically utilize Arm core architecture of various derivatives. For the past decade, these devices have been employing variants of the Armv8 architecture, the first native 64-bit Arm instruction set (starting...
Read more...
Back in September, NVIDIA and SoftBank confirmed the chip giant's intentions to acquire Arm for $40 billion. In the intervening months since the announcement, tech giants and governments alike have shown a range of reactions from hesitance to outright opposition to the transaction. Arm has a history of licensing its ISA to just about anyone, leading to a huge variety of SoC makers crafting chips for all kinds of usage from smartphones to autonomous vehicles. That's why NVIDIA still faces so many questions from policy makers and regulatory agencies around the globe. A fresh report from Nikkei says that NVIDIA's plans to acquire Arm face big questions from governments worldwide, and that...
Read more...
NVIDIA surprised no one last night when it announced that it would acquire Arm for $40 billion from Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. In fact, the only odd thing about the announcement, perhaps, was that it was peculiarly announced on a Sunday night. Given how Arm processors touch nearly every facet of our digital lives and that the company has many big-name licensees, many are understandably worried what impact this could have on the computing industry. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang tried to reassure critics yesterday by confirming that the company will “continue to operate its open-licensing model while maintaining the global customer neutrality that has been foundational to its success.”...
Read more...
After months of rumors and a report yesterday that said that a deal was imminent, NVIDIA announced today that it plans to acquire Arm in a massive deal valued at $40 billion, in what is the largest deal in semiconductor industry history. The two companies have reached a “definitive agreement” in which SoftBank will also take a 10 percent ownership stake in NVIDIA. The transaction represents an big shakeup in the tech industry with NVIDIA now wielding influence over the Arm microarchitecture that has shaped and powers nearly every aspect of modern electronics, from smartphones (there are over 1 billion smartphones sold globally each year), to televisions, to smart...
Read more...
We first heard back in late July that NVIDIA was looking to flex its growing clout in the chipmaking industry by potentially acquiring Arm Holdings from SoftBank. At the moment, NVIDIA is the most valuable U.S. chipmaker with a market cap of just over $300 billion, compared to $209 billion for the previous long-time leader, Intel. Although we’ve heard plenty of additional rumors since the initial story broke — along with recent opposition from two of Arm’s co-founders — a new report from the Wall Street Journal states that SoftBank is “nearing a deal” that would see NVIDIA purchase Arm for around $40 billion. SoftBank, which purchased...
Read more...
Last week we reported that NVIDIA was keenly interested in purchasing Arm Holdings in an effort to bolster its growing chip ambitions. Softbank acquired Arm back in 2016 for $31.4 billion, but recently has been looking for a buyer to take the company off its hands as it looks to pay down its debt. A new report from Bloomberg alleges that NVIDIA and Softbank are getting even closer to an acquisition deal for Arm. In fact, sources for the publication allege that a deal could be reached “in the next few weeks”. Further solidifying NVIDIA’s chances at securing a deal for Arm, it’s being reported that NVIDIA is the only company currently in any...
Read more...
If rumors are accurate, or if where there is smoke there is usually fire, we could be soon witnessing a major shakeup in the chip industry. Multiple mainstream business press outlets are reporting this evening that NVIDIA is making a serious run at Arm, which is owned by Japanese mega-corporate holding company, SoftBank. As you might recall from earlier this month, rumors were swirling that SoftBank was looking to offload Arm, which it purchased back in 2016 for $31.4 billion in cash. Arm chip architecture designs and IP are employed across multiple industries, including numerous gadgets and hardware products that consumers take for granted. From your smartwatch to your smartphone, to your tablet...
Read more...
So far, 2020 is the year of the Snapdragon 865 in the Android world, which is Qualcomm's flagship SoC. The Snapdragon 865 powers everything from the Samsung Galaxy S20 family to the OnePlus 8 Series to the Motorola Edge+. But lurking behind the fancy marking name of Snapdragon 865 is a Kryo 585 CPU, which uses an Arm Cortex-A77 design. It's about that time of year again when Arm lays out the groundwork for its next-generation Cortex-A CPU which will power next year's flagships. And this time, as you might expect, the we're talking about the Cortex-A78. Cortex-A78: Delivering The Goods Over Cortex-A77 Arm is describing the Cortex-A78 as its "most efficient premium Cortex-A...
Read more...
It will probably be at least another several months before we learn lower level details about the hardware powering Microsoft's upcoming Xbox Series X console. Rather than wait, however, internet sleuths continue to dig up interesting tidbits from around the web. The latest piece of information comes from the LinkedIn page of Ashish Shukla, who lists himself as a senior ASIC manager on AMD's semi-custom team. Before we get to that, let's recap what has been confirmed so far. The Xbox Series X will be powered by a custom SoC built by AMD. It will feature Zen 2 CPU cores paired with GPU cores based on AMD's next-generation RDNA 2 architecture, with hardware support for real-time ray tracing (basically...
Read more...
Is Apple on the cusp of a hardware renaissance? The answer depends, in part, on how much stock you put into various leaks and rumors. One of the persistent rumors we have been hearing for quite some time is Apple making a transition to its own custom processors for its Mac products, rather than continuing to lean on Intel. We know from Apple's past decisions and present strategies that it prefers to use in-house designs wherever possible. The strategy has worked out for the iPhone—the custom processors inside Apple's handsets are designed by Apple and based on ARM's architecture. The same thing could apply to Apple's Mac systems in 2020. To wit, we wrote about this very thing almost exactly...
Read more...
Apple has managed to poach an experienced chip engineer from ARM as the company ramps up its effort to design more of its iPhone and other hardware in-house. In addition, Apple is reportedly looking to develop its own processors for Mac systems in a protracted shift away from Intel, though I'm skeptical of this angle. Here's what we know. Apple hired Mike Filippo in May to serve as a chip architect. Filippo spent the past decade working at ARM, most recently as the company's lead CPU architect. He oversaw the development of several different processors, including the Cortex-A76, A72, and A57, along with ARM's Hercules-AE, a next-generation automotive enhanced CPU. Prior to working at ARM, Filippo...
Read more...
Computex and E3 are both in the rear view mirror, but that does not mean the usual participants have nothing left to announce. NVIDIA proved otherwise on Monday by announcing support for ARM processors. This, according to NVIDIA, provides a new path to build extremely energy-efficient, AI-enabled exascale supercomputers. "Supercomputers are the essential instruments of scientific discovery, and achieving exascale supercomputing will dramatically expand the frontier of human knowledge," said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. "As traditional compute scaling ends, power will limit all supercomputers. The combination of NVIDIA’s CUDA-accelerated computing and ARM’s energy-efficient...
Read more...
Huawei is in a world of hurt right now, and ARM just delivered another painful blow, perhaps the biggest one of all so far. Following suit with several other US semiconductor companies, ARM is suspending its business operations with Huawei. The move, if permanent, could have a devastating effect on the massive Chinese telecom. ARM's decision to sever ties with Huawei is in compliance with a recent US ban that prohibits American companies from selling to Huawei without a government-issued license. If taking a broader overview of the situation, this also has to do with the current trade war with China, along with lingering security concerns. According to a BBC report, ARM sent its employees a memo...
Read more...
Linus Torvalds has never been one to mince words. Sometimes he can be a little too brash in his opinion, a trait he acknowledged before taking a brief hiatus for some soul searching. He is also extremely knowledgeable. A bit of both (brashness and knowledge) came out in a series of forum posts discussing ARM hardware and servers. Straight to the point, Linus believes that without a development platform, "ARM in the server space is never going to make it." Furthermore, he calls the attempt to pitch ARM as a 64-bit hyperscaling model is "idiotic," in part because of the lack of customers in that space. On top of it all, Intel is a juggernaut in the server sector, so pricing doesn't play that big...
Read more...
Arm is prepared to take the fight to Intel with respect to PC compute performance, and to prove its point, the company has released its first forward-looking roadmap for CPU IP. While ARM is well known for its dominance of processors used in mobile devices, it hopes that consistent year-over-year performance improvements will have Intel shaking in its boots. Qualcomm attempted to encroach into Intel territory with the Snapdragon 835-powered "Always Connected" PCs in 2017, and it will further that push with the Snapdragon 850 Mobile Platform in 2018, which promises a 30 percent overall performance uplift. To help empower companies like Qualcomm, Apple and Samsung to deliver more...
Read more...
ARM is teaming up with Samsung's foundry to design and manufacturer the recently announced Cortex-A76 core on a 7-nanometer low power plus (LPP) processor. Sometime down the line, they will extend this collaboration to 5nm low power early (LPE). This collaborating is expected to enable processing speeds in excess of 3GHz for the next-generation of mobile devices. "Building an extensive and differentiated design ecosystem is a must for our foundry customers," said Ryan Sanghyun Lee, vice president of Foundry Marketing Team at Samsung Electronics. "Collaboration with Arm in the fields of IP solutions is crucial to increase high-performance computing power and accelerate the growth of artificial...
Read more...
Among the many market segments that Samsung competes in, the company builds its own custom processors based on ARM's architectural designs. You know these as "Exynos" chips and they are often found in the international versions of Samsung's flagship smartphones. Samsung's next top-tier chipset, the Exynos 9820, will take performance to a new level and is said to be faster than ARM's recently introduced Cortex-A76. That's a pretty big deal, considering the Cortex-A76 is the latest and greatest from ARM. As we discussed in a previous article, the Cortex-A76 represents ARM's most radical overhaul over previous designs to date. It's a brand new architecture that brings decisive improvements to power...
Read more...
Last week, Arm showed off the inner workings of its new Machine Learning Processor design, but that is not all that company had waiting in the wings. Arm is also detailing more cutting-edge technology in the form of its Cortex-A76 CPU, Mali-G76 GPU, and Mali-V76 VPU designs. All three chips are slated to be heavy-hitters in their respective categories, and thanks to some on-campus, in depth briefings earlier this month, we have all of the details to share... Cortex A-76 The Cortex-A76 represents Arm’s most radical overhaul over previous designs. The A76’s brand-new architecture brings decisive improvements to power and efficiency. Arm’s processor engineers worked with a...
Read more...
After taking a measured, wait-and-see approach to machine learning, Arm is ready to jump into the fold full throttle. Today, the company is following up on its Project Trillium announcement from back in February with new details surrounding its machine learning processor, also known as the neural-network processing unit or NPU. To quickly recap, Project Trillium encompasses Arm’s push to leverage machine learning and neural network operations across their line-up of processors – whether that processing takes place on the CPU, GPU, or its new NPU. Arm’s goal is to make machine learning feasible “on the edge.” The edge largely describes standalone devices such as smartphones...
Read more...
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are coming in at a rapid pace, and mobile devices seem to be the new frontier. ARM's processor architecture underpins nearly every smartphone sold today and provides the brains for countless other products in widely-varied market segments. Today, the company is looking to expand its domination of the smartphone world with a new suite of products -- Project Trillium -- that will boost machine learning and neural network operations. Taken down to the basics, Project Trillium consists of three primary components. The first is the actual machine learning processor, which will be available for ARM partners starting in the second half of 2018 (an early preview...
Read more...
There is a lot of buzz surrounding Meltdown and Spectre, two recently disclosed chip vulnerabilities that have hardware and software makers scrambling to release patches to deal with the situation. What is not fully known yet is what performance impact these patches will have. Regardless of how all it shakes out, some of Intel's data center customers that run cloud networks are looking to jump ship. The chip flaws, if you want to call them that (and many do, though Intel claims its processors are working as intended) collectively affect all modern CPUs to some extent. However, Intel's silicon seems to be the most affected, as the way they are designed leaves them susceptible to both types of...
Read more...
