CAMBRIDGE, October 3 /PRNewswire/ --

- First Fully Synthesizable Single and Multicore Processors Capable of 
Delivering More Than 8000 Aggregate DMIPS of Performance and Mobile-Level 
Power Efficiency to a Wide Range of Applications

ARM [(LSE: ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)] today launched its new Cortex(TM)-A9
processors at the fourth annual ARM(R) Developers' Conference, in Santa
Clara, California. The ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore(TM) multicore processor and ARM
Cortex-A9 single core processor deliver unprecedented performance within
tight power constraints for innovative devices that deliver superior overall
functionality, such as smartphones, connected mobile computers, consumer
electronics, automotive infotainment, networking and other embedded and
enterprise devices.

ARM also announced today that several Partners have already selected the
Cortex-A9 processors, including NEC Electronics, NVIDIA, Samsung,
STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments.

The new Cortex-A9 processors are compatible with other Cortex family
processors and the popular ARM MPCore technology, thereby inheriting a rich
ecosystem of OS/RTOS, middleware and applications to lower the costs
associated with adopting a new processor.

The Cortex-A9 processors deliver highly scalable and power-efficient
solutions by leveraging for the first time key microarchitectural advances.
Utilizing a dynamic length, 8-stage superscalar, multi-issue pipeline with
speculative out-of-order execution, it is capable of executing up to four
instructions per cycle in devices clocked at more than 1GHz while also
providing reductions in the cost and inefficiencies of today's leading
8-stage processors.

ARM MPCore Technology

The widely-adopted ARM MPCore technology increases performance
scalability and control over power consumption to exceed the performance of
today's comparable high-performance devices while remaining within the tight
mobile power constraints. To date, ARM MPCore technology has been licensed by
more than ten companies including NEC Electronics, NVIDIA, Renesas Technology
and Sarnoff Corporation and has been in silicon production since 2005.

The Cortex-A9 MPCore multicore processor was developed to deliver the
next generation of the MPCore technology to a breadth of new application
markets by further optimizing and extending this technology. In addition, to
simplify and broaden the adoption of multicore solutions, the Cortex-A9
MPCore processor supports system-level coherence with accelerators and DMA to
further increase performance and reduce power consumption at the system
level.

The Cortex-A9 single core processor was developed for simplified design
migration and reduced time-to-market of high-performance, cost-sensitive
applications such as feature phones and other low cost embedded devices. Each
processor is available with ARM Advantage(TM) standard cells and memories for
a traditional and convenient synthesizable flow and provides increased levels
of power efficiency within a similar silicon cost and power budgets to the
previous ARM11 family processors.

"ARM continues to raise the bar in performance for mobile and battery
operated applications with its Cortex family by introducing the ARM Cortex-A9
microprocessors," said Mario Morales, Vice President, Semiconductors at
market research firm IDC. "The new processor options include multicore
support for the Cortex family, which we expect will help extend the range in
performance and power to address requirements by OEMs for next generation
devices in terms of scale and features. By focusing on system level
performance and lower power, the ARM Cortex-A9 processors can support the
growing demand for multicore architectures that are enabling converged
services and devices."

"ARM technology remains at the heart of breakthrough products designed to
meet growing consumer requirements in a broad section of applications
including smartphones, connected mobile computers and consumer electronics,"
said Mike Inglis, EVP, Sales and Marketing, ARM. "In 2005 we introduced the
highly successful Cortex-A8 processor which is being used by multiple
Partners to support a diverse mix of innovative end products starting in
2007/8. In 2007, ARM takes a further step forward by introducing the
Cortex-A9 processors. These will allow further innovation with efficient,
cost-sensitive uniprocessor and high-performance multicore implementations
for end equipment in the 2009/10 timeframe. This new technology enables ARM
Partners to continue to maintain leadership in multiple application areas
including the emerging connected mobile computing market."

Cortex-A9 Processor Benefits

The Cortex-A9 processors are the first synthesizable ARM processors
capable of delivering more than 8000 aggregate DMIPS for demanding high
performance, consumer and enterprise applications while also providing a
significant performance increase over today's handsets when implemented
within the very tight 250mW mobile power budget. For 2000 DMIPS of
performance when designed in a TSMC 65 nanometer (nm) generic process the
core logic costs less than 1.5 mm2 of silicon. This scalable performance from
2000-8000 DMIPs is 4-16x what is found in today's high end phones or set top
boxes and will allow end users to instantly view complex, multimedia enabled
web pages and make the most of Web 2.0 applications, enjoy photorealistic
graphics and gaming, open complex attachments quickly or edit media files.

The Cortex-A9 MPCore processor is the first ARM processor to combine the
Cortex application class architecture with multiprocessing capabilities for
scalable performance and provides enhanced multicore technology that
includes:

- Accelerator Coherence Port (ACP) for increased system performance and
      lower system power

    - Advanced Bus Interface Unit for low latency in high bandwidth devices

    - Multicore TrustZone(R) technology with interrupt virtualization to
      enable hardware based security and enhanced paravirtualization 
      solutions

    - Generalized Interrupt Controller (GIC) for software portability and
      optimized multicore communication



During the development of the multicore benchmarking framework developed
by the industry-led Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC), the
Cortex-A9 MPCore multicore processor demonstrated near linear scalability in
a variety of benchmarks, with additional processor units providing up to four
times the performance of a comparable single core processor.

Complete System Solution

Both ARM Cortex-A9 processors include the ARM application specific
architecture extensions, including DSP and SIMD extensions and Jazelle(R),
TrustZone, and Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM(TM)) technologies. In
addition, ARM has developed a full range of supporting technology around the
new processor to reduce design time and accelerate time-to-market. This
complete system solution comprises:

- Floating-Point Unit (FPU): The Cortex-A9 FPU provides
      high-performance single and double precision floating-point 
      instructions.

    - Media Processing: The Cortex-A9 NEON Media Processing Engine (MPE)
      offers the performance and functionality of the Cortex-A9 FPU plus 
      the ARM NEON advanced SIMD instruction set first introduced with the 
      Cortex-A8 processor for accelerated media and signal processing 
      functions.

    - Physical IP: Providing a wide range of standard cell libraries and
      memories required for low-power and high-performance implementations 
      on a Cortex-A9 processor. The standard cells include power management 
      kits that enable dynamic and leakage power saving techniques such as 
      clock gating, multi-voltage islands and power gating. The memory 
      compilers are also offered with advanced power-saving features.

    - Fabric IP: The Cortex-A9 processor is supported by a comprehensive
      set of PrimeCell(R) fabric IP components including a dynamic memory
      controller, a static memory controller, an AMBA(R) 3 AXI configurable
      interconnect and an optimized L2 Cache Controller to match the 
      performance and throughput capability of the Cortex-A9 processors in 
      high frequency designs.

    - Graphics Acceleration: the combination of ARM Mali(TM) graphics
      processing units with the Cortex-A9 processor will enable SoC Partners 
      to create highly integrated system level solutions, bringing optimal 
      size, performance and system bandwidth benefits.

    - System Design: The ARM RealView(R) SoC Designer tool provides rapid
      architectural optimization and performance analysis and enables early
      development of software drivers and timing critical code long before 
      hardware is available. The RealView System Generator tool offers 
      ultra-fast modeling capability for deployment of Cortex-A9 
      processor-based virtual platforms. Cycle based and programmers' view 
      models of the Cortex-A9 processor, for use in RealView tools, will be 
      available in 2Q 2008.

    - Debug: The ARM CoreSight(TM) on-chip technology speeds complex debug
      and reduces time-to-market. The Program Trace Macrocell technology 
      enables program-flow trace capabilities for full visibility into the 
      processor's instruction flow, and implements the ARMv7 
      architecture-compliant debug interface to enable tools standardization 
      and higher debug performance. The CoreSight design kit for the 
      Cortex-A9 processor extends the debug and trace capability to cover 
      the entire system-on-chip including multiple ARM processors, DSPs, and 
      intelligent peripherals.

    - Software Development: The ARM RealView Development Suite includes
      advanced code generation tools that deliver exceptional performance 
      and unmatched code density for the Cortex-A9 processors. The tools 
      also support vectorizing compilation for the NEON media and signal 
      processing extensions, enabling developers to achieve product and 
      project cost reductions through the elimination of separate DSPs. 
      Cortex-A9 MPCore multicore processor debug including advanced cross 
      triggering is supported by the RealView ICE and Trace products. The 
      Cortex-A9 processor is also supported by a range of hardware 
      development boards supporting system prototyping in FPGA and software 
      development.



Availability

The ARM Cortex-A9 single core and ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processors are
available for licensing now along with supporting technology.

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital
products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging
applications. ARM's comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC
microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries,
embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as
analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the
company's broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that
offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies.
More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.

ARM, TrustZone, RealView, PrimeCell, AMBA and Jazelle are registered
trademarks of ARM Limited. Cortex, MPCore, ARM11, CoreSight, IEM, Advantage,
AXI and NEON are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names
are the property of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to represent ARM
Holdings plc; its operating company ARM Limited; and the regional
subsidiaries ARM Inc.; ARM KK; ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan Limited; ARM France
SAS; ARM Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARM Belgium N.V.; AXYS Design
Automation Inc.; ARM Germany GmbH; ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; and
ARM Norway, AS.