3 ms·
If I understand things correctly, ARM takes things a step further. Not only do they not have a fab, they don't design or sell chips at all. ARM processors are
by kens 11y ago
If I understand things correctly, ARM takes things a step further. Not only do they not have a fab, they don't design or sell chips at all. ARM processors are all built and sold by other companies (STMicroelectronics, NXP, TI, etc), using ARM Holdings' IP - the core design (as an abstract netlist) or a license on the instruction set itself.
- striking 11y agoARM designs and licenses chip/core designs, which are then bought by companies that will then further modify them to fit a specific application. They design the chips, but they don't make the entire design.
- dmitrygr 11y agoARM designs the Core STM, NXP, Mediatek, etc buy the core design, slap it on a piece of silicon, design peripherals around it (SATA ports, UARTS, SDIO controllers, etc), slap those on the silicon, put interconnects in between, and sell the complete SoC. This is of course EXTREMELY oversimplified. But the idea is the same: ARM makes the CORE, and others make SoCs out of it. (I am not aware of anyplace you can buy a simple ARM CORE without it being part of an SOC.