news

한어Русский языкEnglishFrançaisIndonesianSanskrit日本語DeutschPortuguêsΕλληνικάespañolItalianoSuomalainenLatina

Smart Things
Author Yunpeng
Edit Mo Ying

today,The global technology industry is entering a new era of rapid technological iteration.

The AI ​​big model wave is accelerating the evolution of global industry intelligence. How can we seize opportunities and keep up with the times? How can we maintain our competitiveness and avoid falling behind through technological innovation? These are questions that all companies are thinking about, from world-class giants to startups.

fromFrom smartphones, PCs, to AIoT and smart cars,Chip players in various fields are facing new opportunities and challenges. The combination of AI big models and various tracks has brought new experience innovations, and the implementation of these new experiences is inseparable from the support of various key chips.

As many chip industry practitioners currently feel, industry competition is becoming increasingly fierce, and various new challenges are facing every company:The complexity of chip design continues to increase, the requirements for rapid mass production and market launch of products continue to increase, emerging application markets continue to emerge, and the pressure on investment and cost is also rising.

How can we quickly convert a solution from a blueprint into a product, and complete the entire process from design and development to mass production? How can we find more "certainty" in the early stages of research and development, which are full of uncertainty? How can we achieve it at a lower cost while meeting the stringent performance requirements of the chip, and thus gain an advantage in the competition?

All these changes are triggering a revolution in the computing landscape, and chip companies are calling for new ways to acquire underlying core technologies to accelerate innovation.

At present, from supercomputers to smartphones to the smallest sensors at the edge of the Internet of Things, chip companies in almost all fields are building their products based on Arm technology.The Arm computing platform is undoubtedly one of the most critical variables in this era of AI computing transformation.

Recently, ARM Technology, a leading domestic chip IP design and service provider, held an innovation seminar in Shanghai, publicly interpreting for the first time“Arm technology licensing subscription model”He also highlighted the unique advantages and business progress of NVIDIA and shared his in-depth thoughts on the current needs of the chip industry.

The huge potential and innovative value of Arm's technology licensing subscription model have been further explored.

For domestic and foreign chip companies, the Arm technology licensing subscription model provides a "shortcut" to easily access the Arm technology ecosystem and accelerate innovation:All companies, regardless of size, can quickly find a solution that suits them, and obtain Arm's many technologies and training support flexibly, efficiently and at low cost, thereby consolidating their own competitiveness in the wave of intelligent innovation brought about by AI.

Zhidongxi had an in-depth discussion with Arm Technology executives on site. What are the key features of the Arm technology licensing subscription model? What is its key value to enterprises and the entire chip industry? How will the Arm ecosystem give birth to more innovative flowers in the Chinese market? We will find the answers together.

1. Good news for chip development: All needs can be solved! The whole family solution is a tool for reducing costs and increasing efficiency

Providing competitive IP products and solutions has always been Arm's strength. As the computing landscape changes, the Arm technology licensing subscription model combines rich and mature Arm IP, support, tools, training and models "on demand" through a variety of different "subscription-based" solutions, and each solution has distinct characteristics.It can meet different needs, allowing enterprises and organizations of all sizes to find the best solution for themselves.

1. Arm Flexible Access: Low-cost and efficient access to the most popular and mature Arm technologies

The aforementioned "enterprises of all sizes" is a very important keyword. Against the backdrop of the ever-changing global industrial landscape, more and more excellent chip companies have emerged in the domestic chip industry in recent years.How to provide more chip startups with better "growth soil" is actually very critical.

The Arm Flexible Access solution in Arm's technology licensing subscription model can be said to be a new blessing for these emerging and small and medium-sized enterprises.

For most domestic startups, even if they can quickly pull together an outstanding team to concentrate their efforts on "fighting", they will often be troubled by initial funding constraints, especially in the R&D stage from product design to pre-tapeout, where cost pressure is particularly prominent.

According to the previous "per-item" model, the IP technology licensing fees for each project are a heavy burden for them. Even in this case, many startups that have not yet received financing are unable to afford the initial technical costs and find it difficult to prove the value of their products, which makes investors' valuation of their companies low. This not only affects subsequent R&D investment, but also gradually puts them in a dilemma.

Taking the IoT field, the largest base for domestic start-ups and small and medium-sized chip design companies, as an example, the Arm Flexible Access solution can be vividly understood asAn "IP portfolio package" directly for chip startups, which includes almost all commonly used IPs, software and tools involved in IoT development, as well as training and support.

▲Mainstream packages included in the Arm Flexible Access solution

After subscribing to this plan, chip design companies can obtain more than 80 Arm IPs and supporting tools for research and development. Compared with the traditional IP technology licensing fees, the annual subscription fee cost is greatly reduced.

This makes theseEnterprises can quickly enter the chip design phase and flexibly and freely select different IP products to create a powerful punch product.Lay a solid foundation for subsequent financing and commercialization.

It is worth mentioning that with the Arm Flexible Access solution, companies do not need to pay for the IP used in their final SoC design until the final tape-out.Cost predictability is significantly improved.At the same time, companies do not need to conduct secondary business negotiations on certain IP products that are tried out in the "experimental" stage of design, and can replace or add or reduce appropriate IP products at will.

Simply put, these chip startups or small and medium-sized companies only need to focus on chip design itself, and the initial R&D cost pressure is greatly reduced.

In fact, this solution is equally applicable to companies of all sizes and can be understood as a more economical and flexible way to use mainstream Arm IP.

To sum it up with the words of Xu Yatao, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business of Arm Technology,This is actually a form of "try before you buy".

▲Xu Yatao, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business of ARM Technology

It is understood that in the domestic market, the Arm Flexible Access solution has won the favor of customers within just a few months of its launch and received a lot of positive feedback.

For example, Wang Can, CEO of Hangzhou Xinlili and CTO of BIWIN Storage, mentioned that through this solution, they can obtain a series of mature and continuously evolving Arm technology products at a lower cost, and can freely choose and flexibly configure to achieve the best design solution. At the same time, this "subscription system" model can significantly reduce the number of contracts, simplify the access process, and fully meet specific chip design needs.

In the view of Fang Yinglong, founder and CEO of Moxin Semiconductor,For emerging companies, the maturity of the technology behind the product is crucial.With the help of the Arm technology ecosystem, they can bring products to market faster, improve product quality, and minimize potential risks.

It can be seen from this thatThe Arm Flexible Access solution is like a vast "experimental field", allowing enterprises to try different configurations, evaluate performance, and iterate and innovate more freely.Objectively speaking, this also reflects Arm's firm support for technological innovation of local emerging chip companies.

2. Arm Total Access: Get the latest and most comprehensive Arm IP in one place, making it easier to build complex systems

If the Arm Flexible Access solution directly addresses the pain point of many chip startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in "quickly entering the market at a limited cost", thenFor some mature companies that already have a clear product development path or business direction, it is more important to obtain the most complete and latest IP products in the greatest possible and convenient way to support the development of their cutting-edge products.

Based on this, the Arm Total Access solution should be more adapted to the above needs and a more efficient and economical way to obtain the most comprehensive and latest Arm products.

Based on this scheme,Chip companies only need to go through a single subscription agreement to get the most comprehensive Arm IP products, tools and models, support and training, software and physical design, which can almost be said to be a "family bucket" of chip development.

This solution is particularly suitable for enterprises to build complex systems involving multiple Arm products, such as Arm Cortex, Arm Neoverse CPU, Arm Mali GPU, etc. In short, enterprises can flexibly use multiple technologies to advance one or more projects under development at the same time.

It is worth mentioning that the needs and businesses of each chip company are different, so how can the applicability of Arm Total Access be guaranteed? To this end, the solution provides 18 configuration options, which can be said to be"always one option fit for you".

Of course, under this solution, companies no longer need to spend extra energy and time on business processes for the IP used in each project, and the overall costs are more predictable, which is especially important for chip companies that have become increasingly "involved" in recent years.

It is understood that some mature chip companies in China have taken the lead in adopting the Arm Total Access solution, and this solution has also been fully verified and recognized in overseas markets.

It can be said,The Arm Total Access solution opens the door for chip companies to seamlessly access Arm's large-scale global technology ecosystem, further promoting the popularization and innovation of Arm technology.

In addition to the Arm Flexible Access and Arm Total Access programs, Arm also offers the Arm Academic Access program for academic research and education. This model provides academic institutions with a shortcut to use Arm IP for education, training, academic or non-commercial research purposes.

▲Arm technology licensing subscription model

Overall,Arm's technology licensing subscription model provides enterprises with a path to grow and develop in the Arm ecosystem, allowing enterprises to flexibly adapt to the changing needs of regional and global markets, and allowing engineers, solution architects and software developers to easily turn innovative ideas into practical applications.

2. AI computing landscape is undergoing a transformation, with flexible and diverse access to the Arm technology ecosystem to accelerate enterprises’ sharing of intelligent opportunities

The technology industry has been applying AI technology for decades, but the development of generative AI technology based on large models has brought disruptive impacts to many sub-sectors. The computing landscape is constantly changing, and the way companies acquire core technologies and accelerate innovation also needs to keep pace with the times.

In this industry context, for many chip companies,The traditional model of "buying an IP and using it for three years" is no longer applicable.During the product design process, we often find that after purchasing an IP, we need to replace or add it.

In fact, it took less than a year for AI big models to sweep the tech industry. But nowadays, if chip companies want to obtain an IP license, according to the conventional business process, it will take at least two or three months, and a chip product from research and development to market launch may take as short as one and a half years or as long as three years.

According to Xu Yatao,Arm Technology has been exploring this subscription model for three or four years.The idea of ​​the Arm technology licensing subscription model is actuallyIt is based on long-term and in-depth insights into changes in industry demand, and is by no means a temporary decision made on a whim.

Now that we have clarified why we are doing something, the next step is to do it well.

In fact, this "IP subscription" model is not original in the industry, but compared with other solutions in the industry, where exactly does the unique advantage of Arm's technology licensing subscription model of "others have it, I have it better" lie?

First, while other plans may also offer a "combo pack," the contents of the pack vary greatly.The "IP Portfolio" of Arm's technology licensing subscription model includes a very complete, mature and advanced Arm resource suite, which can be described as "similar packaging, but more solid content."

Whether it is the "try before you buy" Arm Flexible Access solution or the Arm Total Access solution favored by more mature companies, all types of chip design companies can obtain a series of configurable technology and service combinations, including various IP, tools and models that can provide excellent support for any SoC core function, as well as related support and training.

The IP is excellent enough and the product portfolio is diverse enough. The direct beneficial result is that no matter the size of the enterprise, it can use advanced chip IP more quickly through this subscription model, thereby accelerating the popularization and innovation of technology.

In the current era of AI big models, how to quickly implement AI technology and allow more companies to apply AI in products and services is the direction of the entire industry's common efforts.

Obviously, one of the important values ​​of ARM and Arm to the industry is to provide better products, more flexible services and closer cooperation.Help domestic enterprises share chip technology and make AI ubiquitous. Relying on Arm technology and ecology, accelerate the intelligent transformation of thousands of industries.

3. From technology to ecology, Arm technology licensing subscription has aroused global resonance, and the domestic market has great potential

Arm's core advantage has never been just the continued leadership of a single technology or a single IP, but the ability to provide enterprises withComprehensive capabilities to provide a “package solution”,This is the "combination package" mentioned above. Behind this,Arm's global ecological advantages are undoubtedly highlighted.

Arm's technology licensing subscription model has aroused widespread resonance in domestic and overseas markets. The Arm ecosystem continues to grow, and a collaborative and win-win technology ecosystem is being rapidly established.

It is reported that,There are more than 30 overseas authorized customers of Arm Total Access solution.These customers are mainly Arm's long-term partners.There are more than 220 overseas authorized customers of Arm Flexible Access solution.Most of them are start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises.

Since its launch in the domestic market this year, the Arm technology licensing subscription model has received positive support and feedback from domestic customers in just a few months.The total number of domestic customers who have obtained authorization has reached more than 20.This includes 16 licensees using the Arm Flexible Access solution and more than 4 customers choosing the Arm Total Access solution.

"Only when domestic chip companies succeed can we succeed ourselves." This is the principle that Arm Technology has followed for many years. Promoting the Arm technology licensing subscription model in China is also a concrete manifestation and practice of this principle.

Conclusion: AI big models set off a computing revolution, and ARM Technology accelerated domestic chip companies to embrace innovation

Over the past 20 years, we have seen Chinese chip companies and the Arm technology ecosystem "running in both directions". On the one hand, China's chip innovation power has become an important part of the Arm technology ecosystem.Today, among the 15 million developers in the Arm ecosystem, 4 million are in China.The status and importance of the Chinese market are increasing day by day.

On the other hand, the Arm technology ecosystem is also continuing to expand in the domestic market. According to official data from Arm Technology, from 2018 to date, Arm Technology has 30 authorized customers in China.More than 400 companies,Cumulative chip shipments have reached35 billion pieces,Driving the annual output value of downstreamOver a trillionA technology industry ecosystem with a RMB scale.

ARM Technology is positioned as a leader in China's intelligent computing ecosystem. As a local company rooted in the Chinese market and serving Chinese customers, while ensuring a stable supply of local semiconductor IP, it has increased investment in self-developed businesses in response to domestic market trends and customer characteristics, and has gathered a strong local R&D force.

Currently, Arm's business coversAIoT, smart cars, mobile terminals, infrastructureThrough the heterogeneous collaboration of Arm product technology and self-developed business products, Arm Technology continues to provide strong impetus for the upgrading of the local chip industry.

Entering the new era of AI big models, changes in the global industrial landscape have allowed more Chinese chip companies to see new development opportunities. More Chinese chip companies need more abundant "chip IP supplies" to accelerate technological innovation. Joining the Arm ecosystem is undoubtedly the best choice. Now,Arm's technology licensing subscription model also provides a more flexible, time-saving, labor-saving and worry-free option for domestic chip companies to quickly access the Arm ecosystem.

In view of Arm's latest financial report, the Arm Total Access solution and the Arm Flexible Access solution are mentioned prominently. In my opinion, they are undoubtedly important drivers for the long-term growth of the Arm technology ecosystem. For chip companies that adopt these solutions, the high flexibility and freedom granted by the Arm technology licensing subscription model undoubtedly provide important support for their "business development sustainability."

Based on this, we have reason to believe that with the continued development and joint efforts of Arm and ARM,Arm's technology licensing subscription model is expected to nurture more innovative flowers in the fertile soil of the Chinese market.