STMicro to spearhead deployment of the ARM Cortex-A57

STMicroelectronics has announced that it is one of the lead partners working with ARM to spearhead the commercial deployment of the ARM Cortex-A57 processor, one of the new solutions based on the ARMv8 architecture and featuring a new 64-bit execution state.

Building on the extensive experience ST has in integrating 32-bit ARM cores into a wide variety of products, from the STM32 family of industry-leading 32-bit ARM Cortex-based microcontrollers to the most complex System-on-Chip (SoC) custom solutions, ST will leverage the very high performance, extended address space and low power consumption enabled by the 64-bit Cortex-A57 processor to develop the next generation of computing-intensive SoCs.

“ST has an unrivalled track record in combining ARM technology with our own extensive IP portfolio, our deep applications know-how and our leading-edge manufacturing technologies to offer customers a full range of optimized solutions,” said Gian Luca Bertino, Executive Vice President and General Manager of ST’s Digital Convergence Group. “The Cortex-A50-family strengthens our IP portfolio for our unified platform roadmap and also enables ST to offer higher performance per Watt in ASICs for networking and datacenter infrastructure. Moreover, as one of the first Lead Partners, early access to the technology will allow ST to be among the first to hit the market with Cortex-A50-processor-based products.”

ST has an aggressive roadmap for incorporating the Cortex-A57 processor into multi-core System-on-Chip (SoC) solutions for high-end applications requiring a very high level of computing performance combined with challenging power consumption targets. The reduced power consumption of the ARM Cortex-A57 processor enables ST to reach higher levels of integration and will help system integrators simplify the cooling system in high performance network infrastructure and datacenter products. The Cortex-A50 family processor will be at the base of our next generation of products in the Unified Processing Platform that ST is developing for Digital Convergence applications.

“Consumers expect to be seamlessly connected to their personal data and content to ensure that their world is at their fingertips. To achieve this, ARM and ARM Partners, such as ST, must innovate to deliver a new era of mobile computing and evolve the networking and server market,” said Tom Cronk, General Manager, Processor Division, ARM. “The combination of ST’s experience in system-on-chip solutions and the innovative technology offered by the Cortex-A57 processor will help achieve this. We anticipate that the high-performance, low-power ARMv8 architecture will feature in many new ST devices that will be at the heart of tomorrow’s consumer devices and enterprise infrastructure.”

In keeping with its commitment to environmental sustainability, ST is continuously working to increase the power efficiency of all its products, from discrete power devices to the most complex Application-Specific ICs used in internet infrastructure applications. For example, server farms accounted for an estimated 1.3% of the world’s total electricity consumption in 2010. As the world increasingly embraces the cloud-based path for personal and corporate communications and data storage, the improved power efficiency of new SoCs using the ARMv8 architecture with 64-bit capability will contribute to a more sustainable world.

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