News & Analysis
Comment
kinnar
It looks like that Intel will be in a big problem after a few years if ARM goes ...
abrokalakis
I believe that this whole hype and speculation we hear these days of late, comes ...
ARM 64-bit CPUs coming soon, says report
Peter Clarke
11/19/2010 9:48 AM EST
LONDON – Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc is expected to reveal its plans for processor cores that support 64-bit computing, within the next few weeks, according to an IDG news service report that cited sources close the company speaking at an ARM technology conference in Taipei.
ARM (Cambridge, England) has shown "samples" according to the report (see below).
The move is not unexpected although the detail of how a move to 64-bits would be archieved, its multicore support and when production volume chips would be available, would be of great interest.
ARM is already known to be working with a number of chip and equipment companies on applications of its cores within server applications but one thing the company has lacked is the ability to process data 64-bits at a time, which is a standard approach in the mainstream server and supercomputer markets.
A speedy move to 64-bits would show that ARM is serious about its desire to compete with Intel Corp. on the chip giant's traditional home ground at the high-end of the computer market.
ARM's latest processor core announcement was the Cortex-A15, previously codenamed Eagle. The A15 complies with the ARMv7 instruction architecture but with support for 40-bit virtualization. The next ARM processor to be announced will support 64-bit and could be unveiled as soon as next week, the report said.
One possibility - which would be very reminiscent of Intel's marketing style - would be if the basic Cortex-A15 design already supports 64-bit processing and ARM has quietly kept that detail back from the original announcement to give it more publicity. As ARM is licensor of IP it might be possible to allow chip partners to choose whether to opt for full 64-bit processing or opt for 32-bit depending on application and as they are designing their implementation of the chip.
Related links and articles:
ARM readies cores for 64-bit computing
ARM, in servers push, describes Cortex A15 CPU core
Opinion: Power imperative favors ARM's client-to-server play
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
elctrnx_lyf
11/19/2010 1:09 PM EST
I think this has been mentioned before few days itself. Is there any products that are going to ship with the 64 bit core into the market?
Sign in to Reply
selinz
11/19/2010 1:41 PM EST
I'm going to want it in my 24 core, 6GHz, 500Gb mobile phone...
Sign in to Reply
tritchie
11/19/2010 7:31 PM EST
LOL, more under the ARM Fluff, all we hear is speculation and funny story performance comparisons surrounding A15 and now likely the 64-bit story. just more fluff without any details - ARM provided NO PPA details of A15 at their recent conference, this is almost a year after they said it was coming. LOL
Sign in to Reply
DC2008
11/19/2010 8:18 PM EST
LOL, what' wrong with ARM management or PR. Everyday they break a new story regarding their paper triumph. Is the hype part of business strategy now. Also, constant claims of superior energy efficiency has never been proven by any objective metrics such MFOPS/Watt. EETimes seems to be particularly keen on cheerleading ARM. Get a grip. This rag is turning into zero value add...just like your Intel 22nm SOI story.
Sign in to Reply
Robotics Developer
11/20/2010 9:10 PM EST
It seems to be a marketeers type of announcement I would have to agree with a number of the current posters. What I as an engineer what to know is: When will the 64bit be sampling (in real numbers - no pun intended)? Where are the specs (just like Wheres the beef)? How fast, how much on chip memory, etc... It would be hard to consider this chip without some real numbers and if they are not "available" then it is a NON story for now, some day maybe but not now.
Sign in to Reply
yalanand
11/21/2010 12:10 PM EST
How can ARM hype it so much without releasing the sepcs. Agree with fellow readers its more of hype rather than achievement.
Sign in to Reply
hm
11/21/2010 7:34 PM EST
Was this process a prime requirement from Apple? We may soon see more Apple products with ARM 64 bits. May be in Apple computers and even iPAD.
We wish they publish salient freature of this design and novel technology they employed.
Sign in to Reply
metafor
11/21/2010 9:59 PM EST
"the company has lacked is the ability to process data 64-bits at a time"
That's not why 64-bit processors are needed. I would've expected an EETimes article to be more accurate than this....
Sign in to Reply
Neo1
11/22/2010 12:44 AM EST
I suspect as others that there is more to this than said here. It's basically ARM's way of keeping things beneath the radar until they have something which goes like bang on the market, unlike intel which keeps out strutting marketing stuff in increments of MHz.
I guess they have some real customers in the net who have big plans.
Sign in to Reply
tony.p.lee
11/22/2010 8:09 PM EST
I use arm CPU and can use 64 bits support if it is available. I really just need mmap64 support and be able to dereference 64 bits pointers in virtual address space.
For me, it make senses for ARM to add this support. Multicore cell phone is there. Linux can use it today if 64 bit is enable. I can see some interesting use case for Android app with 64 bits support + cloud computing.
Sign in to Reply
abrokalakis
11/23/2010 6:33 AM EST
I believe that this whole hype and speculation we hear these days of late, comes from the fact that people realize that there has to be a viable alternative to Intel and x86.
And I keep wondering what IBM and the Power Alliance is doing?
Sign in to Reply
kinnar
11/25/2010 2:24 PM EST
It looks like that Intel will be in a big problem after a few years if ARM goes rigorously like this.
Sign in to Reply