ARC International plc was a developer of configurable microprocessor technology and is now owned by Synopsys. ARC developed synthesisable IP and licensed it to semiconductor companies.
The configurability of the ARC happens at design time (as opposed to run time) using the ARChitect processor configurator. The core was created in such a way that it is extensible. Unlike most embedded microprocessors you can add extra instructions, registers and functionality as if they were made from Lego. Customers look at the task they want to perform, analyse the task, break down the operations, and then choose the appropriate extensions (or create their own) to create their own custom microprocessor. They might optimise for speed, energy efficiency or code density. Extensions can include for example, an MMU, a fast multiplier–accumulator, a USB Host, a viterbi path decoder, etc. etc.
Semiconductor company licensees of ARC products ship approximately 300 million chips containing ARC processor cores every year. ARC has over 140 customers. ARC hosts the ConfigCon series of seminars that occur around the world 3-4 times per year.
Read more about ARC International: History, Open Development Environment, White Papers On Configurability
Famous quotes containing the word arc:
“You say that you are my judge; I do not know if you are; but take good heed not to judge me ill, because you would put yourself in great peril.”
—Joan Of Arc (c.1412–1431)