ARC (processor)
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ARC (Argonaut RISC Core)
embedded system An embedded system is a computer system—a combination of a computer processor, computer memory, and input/output peripheral devices—that has a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or electronic system. It is ''embedded'' as ...
processors are a family of 32-bit and 64-bit reduced instruction set computer (RISC)
central processing unit A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s (CPUs) originally designed by
ARC International Arc Holdings is the holding company of the Arc Group, specializing in the design and manufacturing of glass tableware. The Arc Group markets its collections in France and exports them abroad under the registered trademarks Luminarc, Arcopal, Cr ...
. ARC processors are configurable and extensible for a wide range of uses in system on a chip (SoC) devices, including storage, digital home, mobile, automotive, and
Internet of things The Internet of things (IoT) describes physical objects (or groups of such objects) with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other comm ...
(IoT) applications. They have been licensed by more than 200 organizations and are shipped in more than 1.5 billion products per year. ARC processors employ the 16-/32-bit ARCompact instruction set architecture (ISA) that provides good performance and code density for embedded and host SoC applications.


History

The ARC concept was developed initially within Argonaut Games through a series of 3D pipeline development projects starting with the
Super FX The Super FX is a coprocessor on the Graphics Support Unit (GSU) added to select Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) video game cartridges, primarily to facilitate advanced 2D and 3D graphics. The Super FX chip was designed by Argona ...
chip for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
. In 1995, Argonaut was split into Argonaut Technologies Limited (ATL), which had a variety of technology projects, and Argonaut Software Limited (ASL). At the start of 1996, the General Manager of Argonaut, John Edelson, started reducing ATL projects such as
BRender Argonaut Games PLC was a British video game developer founded in 1982, most notable for the development of the Super NES video game ''Star Fox'' and its supporting Super FX hardware, as well as for developing '' Croc: Legend of the Gobbos'' and ...
and
motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...
and investing in the development of the ARC concept. In September 1996 Rick Clucas decided that the value of the ARC processor was in other people using it rather than Argonaut doing projects using it and asked Bob Terwilliger to join as CEO; Rick Clucas then took on the role of CTO. In 1997, following investment by
Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of December 2017, the firm, including its ...
, ATL became ARC International and fully independent from Argonaut Games. Before their
initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...
on the
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, underwritten by
Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...
and five other investment banks, three related technology companies were acquired: Metaware in
Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...
(development and modeling software), VAutomation in
Nashua, New Hampshire Nashua is a city in southern New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 91,322, the second-largest in northern New England after nearby Manchester, New Hampshire, Manchester. Along with Manc ...
(peripheral semiconductor IP), and Precise Software in
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(RTOS). In 2009, ARC International was acquired by
Virage Logic Virage Logic corporation, founded 1996, was an American provider of both functional and physical semiconductor intellectual property (IP) for the design of complex integrated circuits. The company's differentiated product portfolio included proces ...
. In 2010, Virage was acquired by Synopsys, and ARC processors became part of the
Synopsys Synopsys is an American electronic design automation (EDA) company that focuses on silicon design and verification, silicon intellectual property and software security and quality. Products include tools for logic synthesis and physical de ...
DesignWare series. In April 2020 Synopsys released the ARCv3 ISA with 64-bit support.


Design configuration

Designers can differentiate their products by using patented configuration technology to tailor each ARC processor instance to meet specific performance, power and area requirements. Configuration of the ARC processors occurs at design time, using the ARChitect processor configurator. The core was designed to be extensible, allowing designers to add their own custom instructions that can significantly increase performance or reduce power consumption. Unlike most embedded microprocessors, extra instructions, registers, and functions can be added in a modular fashion. Customers analyse the task, break down the operations, and then choose the appropriate extensions, or develop their own, to create their own custom microprocessor. They might optimise for speed, energy efficiency, or code density. Extensions can include, for example, a
memory management unit A memory management unit (MMU), sometimes called paged memory management unit (PMMU), is a computer hardware unit having all memory references passed through itself, primarily performing the translation of virtual memory addresses to physical a ...
(MMU), a fast multiplier–accumulator, a Universal Serial Bus (
USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad ...
) host, a Viterbi path decoder, or a user's proprietary RTL functions. The processors are synthesizable and can be implemented in any foundry or process, and are supported by a complete suite of development tools.


See also

*
List of common microcontrollers This is a list of common microcontrollers listed by brand. Altera In 2015, Altera was acquired by Intel. * Nios II 32-bit configurable soft microprocessor * Nios 16-bit configurable soft processor Analog Devices * Blackfin * Super Harvard Arc ...
*
Comparison of instruction set architectures An instruction set architecture (ISA) is an abstract model of a computer, also referred to as computer architecture. A realization of an ISA is called an ''implementation''. An ISA permits multiple implementations that may vary in performance, physi ...


References


Further reading


Toshiba, ARC in configurable processor collaboration
15 May 2006
SPF: All About Power, Performance
30 June 2006
Architectures: Programmable ARC platform targets low-cost multimedia
2 October 2006
ARC adopts clustered parallelism in media multiprocessing
9 October 2006
ARC signs "landmark" licensing deal with Intel
EE Times 9/11/2007


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arc International Embedded microprocessors Instruction set architectures System on a chip