ARM has inked a lucrative licensing deal with Cavium to provide the latter company with ARMv8 architecture.
ARMv8 is the first ARM architecture to support 64-bit execution, thereby allowing v8 processors to seamlessly combine 64-bit and 32-bit execution.
“We are delighted to extend [our] relationship as we broaden the range of ARM processor-based application,” said ARM CEO Warren East.
“Cavium is a leading multicore processor vendor and has delivered highly differentiated SoCs including a range of ARM processor-based products for many years.”
Cavium is expected to use its ARMv8 architecture license to design highly optimized 64-bit custom cores and SoC implementations for the cloud and datacenter markets.
According to Peter Clarke of the EE Times, the so-called ARM-powered Project Thunder processors will be offered alongside the company’s existing lineup of Octeon [MIPS] and Nitrox processors.
“Project Thunder will provide a scalable family of 64-bit ARMv8 processors incorporated into an SoC architecture that includes workload accelerators and industry standard I/O ports,” he explained.
“Cavium is aiming to provide a 10 times improvement in the price, performance and power over rivals’ alternatives for the target applications.”
