Arm, Cadence and Xilinx Introduce First Arm Neoverse System Development Platform for Next-Generation Cloud-to-Edge Infrastructure, Implemented on TSMC 7nm Process Technology

SAN JOSE, Calif.-- March 12, 2019 -- Arm, Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ: XLNX) today announced the delivery of a new development platform, silicon-proven on TSMC’s (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) 7nm FinFET process technology, for next-generation cloud-to-edge infrastructure based on the new Arm^® Neoverse^™ N1 platform. The Neoverse N1 System Development Platform (SDP) is also the industry’s first 7nm infrastructure development platform enabling asymmetrical compute acceleration via the CCIX interconnect architecture and is available to hardware and software developers for hardware prototyping, software development, system validation, and performance profiling/tuning.

The SDP includes a Neoverse N1-based SoC with an operating frequency of up to 3GHz, full-sized caches and generous amounts of memory bandwidth with the latest optimized system IP. The robustness of the SDP is ideal for development, debug, performance optimization and workload analysis on a wide range of applications including those for machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics.

The Neoverse N1 SDP was developed jointly by Arm, Cadence and Xilinx on TSMC’s process technology, and includes Cadence IP for CCIX, PCI Express^® (PCIe^®) Gen 4 and DDR4 PHY IP. The SDP was implemented and verified using a full Cadence tool flow in TSMC’s 7nm FinFET process technology, the industry’s first and leading 7nm process technology in volume production, and provides connectivity to Xilinx Virtex UltraScale+ FPGAs over the CCIX chip-to-chip coherent interconnect protocol via the Xilinx Alveo U280 CCIX accelerator card. For customers with intense compute workloads, CCIX offers a significant accelerator usability improvement as well as improved data center performance/efficiency, lowering the barrier to entry into existing server infrastructure systems and improving the total cost of ownership (TCO) of acceleration systems.

Availability

The Neoverse N1 SDP will be available in limited quantities in Q2 2019 with wider availability in subsequent quarters. The software stack can be accessed through Linaro and GitHub open-source repositories, providing developers with an out-of-the-box Linux software experience. The Xilinx Alveo U280 accelerator card, which features a high-performance FPGA with integrated high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and a CCIX interface, is available now and can be purchased directly from Xilinx. Additionally, the full Cadence SoC implementation and verification flows, CCIX, PCIe Gen 4 and DDR4 IP, and the Neoverse N1 Rapid Adoption Kit (RAK) are available now, so customers can begin designing Neoverse N1-based SoCs on TSMC’s 7nm silicon immediately. For more information on the Neoverse N1 SDP, please visit https://www.arm.com/products/silicon-ip-cpu/neoverse/neoverse-n1.

Partner Quotes

“The new Neoverse platforms deliver the performance and efficiency required to enable the cloud-to-edge infrastructure for a world with a trillion connected devices. Our ongoing SDP collaboration with Cadence, TSMC, and Xilinx truly enables developers with the system development tools necessary to innovate and deliver optimized Neoverse-based designs.”
-Drew Henry, senior vice president and general manager, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm

“Through our collaboration with Arm, TSMC and Xilinx, we are jointly working to advance next-generation cloud-to-edge infrastructure. By contributing our IP and EDA tools and flows to the development of the Neoverse N1 SDP, we’re enabling customers to use the full Cadence implementation and verification flows, infrastructure IP, and rapid adoption kit to develop their own devices today for machine learning, 5G, analytics and other evolving application areas that enable them to excel in their respective markets.”
-Dr. Anirudh Devgan, president, Cadence

“This collaborative effort combines Arm, Cadence and Xilinx’s leading products, IP and tools with TSMC's 7nm FinFET process technology and foundry services, enabling our customers to achieve faster and successful application development in areas including machine learning/AI, 5G and analytics, and creating greater value to the markets that will be fundamentally transformed by those applications.”
-Dr. Cliff Hou, VP Technology Development, TSMC

“The ARM Neoverse N1 CCIX-enabled SDP with the Alveo accelerator card is a highly-performant platform designed to enable the next generation of applications to be developed. The seamless data-sharing among the heterogeneous devices demonstrates the successful integration of CCIX IP from multiple vendors and the expanding reach of CCIX technology.”
-Gaurav Singh, corporate vice president, Silicon Architecture and Verification, Xilinx

About Arm

Arm technology is at the heart of a computing and connectivity revolution that is transforming the way people live and businesses operate. Our advanced, energy-efficient processor designs have enabled intelligent computing in more than 130 billion chips. More than 70% of the world’s population are using Arm technology, which is securely powering products from the sensor to the smartphone to the supercomputer. This technology combined with our IoT software and end-to-end connectivity, device and data management platform enables customers to derive real business value from their connected devices and data. Together with our 1,000+ technology partners we are at the forefront of designing, securing and managing all areas of compute from the chip to the cloud.

About Cadence

Cadence enables electronic systems and semiconductor companies to create the innovative end products that are transforming the way people live, work and play. Cadence’s software, hardware and semiconductor IP are used by customers to deliver products to market faster. The company’s System Design Enablement strategy helps customers develop differentiated products—from chips to boards to systems—in mobile, consumer, cloud datacenter, automotive, aerospace, IoT, industrial and other market segments. Cadence is listed as one of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn more at cadence.com.

About TSMC

TSMC is the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry, providing the industry’s leading process technology and the foundry segment’s largest portfolio of process-proven libraries, IPs, design tools and reference flows. The Company’s owned capacity in 2019 is expected to reach above 12 million (12-inch equivalent) wafers, including capacity from three advanced 12-inch GIGAFAB® facilities, four eight-inch fabs, one six-inch fab, as well as TSMC’s wholly owned subsidiaries, WaferTech, TSMC China, and TSMC Nanjing. TSMC is the first foundry to provide 7-nanometer production capabilities. Its corporate headquarters are in Hsinchu, Taiwan. For more information about TSMC please visit http://www.tsmc.com.

About Xilinx

Xilinx develops highly flexible and adaptive processing platforms that enable rapid innovation across a variety of technologies – from the endpoint to the edge to the cloud. Xilinx is the inventor of the FPGA, hardware programmable SoCs and the ACAP, designed to deliver the most dynamic processor technology in the industry and enable the adaptable, intelligent and connected world of the future. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.