授權眾多廠商 氣勢銳不可擋 ARM MalI 繪圖技術成為市場主流

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More than one processor for every person in the world
Annual run rate now three billion processor shipments across very diverse markets

CAMBRIDGE, UK – Jan XX, 2008 –ARM [(LSE:ARM); (Nasdaq: ARMHY)] today announced that the total number of processors shipped by its Partners has exceeded ten billion. The company developed its first embeddable RISC core, the ARM6™ processor, in 1991, and its semiconductor Partners currently ship almost three billion ARM Powered® processors each year.

3 I' B8 H* [* Z+ y0 l/ x“ARM Partners have now shipped more than one processor for every single person on the planet” said Warren East, CEO, ARM. “Ten billion ARM processors in use mark an enormous milestone for ARM, but also demonstrate the growth in adoption of the ARM® processor architecture by the vast majority of major electronics companies and across the broadest range of applications.”
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ARM has grown to become the largest microprocessor IP company in the world, and the ARM processor portfolio covers every area of microprocessor applications, from very low-cost embedded microcontrollers, up to very high-performance multicore processors for demanding networking, mobile and consumer entertainment applications. As a result, ARM processors can be found in products ranging from the LG Viewty, Nokia N95 and Sony Ericsson P1i smart phones; the iPhone and the iPod; Garmin, Navman and Tom Tom portable navigation systems; Kodak still cameras; Sony video cameras; and the Nintendo DS handheld gaming device, up to Toshiba HD digital televisions; hard disk drives from Samsung and Seagate; automotive braking systems from Bosch; HP printers and wireless routers from Linksys and Netgear. (For more examples of ARM Powered products, visit http://www.arm.com/markets.)
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9 k$ u: J& Q( u% z! e: B# F* z“ARM deserves congratulations for successfully executing the business model of licensing microprocessor technology as intellectual property,” said Tom R. Halfhill, senior analyst for In-Stat’s Microprocessor Report newsletter. “Although ARM does not actually make or sell microprocessor chips, there are now ten billion ARM microprocessors in the world - all implemented in silicon by ARM Partners. ARM was an early pioneer of this revolutionary business model, and it has given ARM a long reach in the digital world.”

4 C, T! N* V* L “ARM’s success is a result of its processor architecture being licensed to nearly every semiconductor company in the world,” said Tom Starnes of analyst firm Objective Analysis. “With each vendor using ARM processors to address its own focus markets, the number of ARM technology-based chips going out the door multiplies beyond what a single vendor could drive.  Added to the volume of mobile phones with ARM technology inside and untapped markets like microcontrollers just getting started, these numbers will continue to expand.  At this rate, within a year we will find that every man, woman, and child on this planet will have the use of an average of two ARM processors – and a lot of cool electronic devices too.”

' [  V8 U- N/ d7 D- S& { “I have watched with great interest the growth of the ARM architecture since its early days as a proprietary CPU for a small aspiring PC company.  From its beginning the ARM CPU was small and efficient.  It was clearly a CPU ahead of its time,” said Tony Massimini, chief of technology, Semico Research Corp. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to find the right home for ARM technology.  The CPU’s success is due as much to the tools and ecosystem that have been developed as it owes to the evolution of its architecture.  Even more significant to me than the sheer volume of parts that have shipped is the fact that ARM has established a fundamental business model within the semiconductor industry – licensing intellectual property.  The IP model has been so successful for ARM that it has inspired others to emulate the company.”
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“Over the past decade, the use of embedded microprocessor cores has moved from cutting edge technology to a mainstream capability found in an ever-increasing percentage of new designs,” said Jordan Selburn, principal analyst for Semiconductor Design Services, iSuppli. “Billions of ASSPs and ASICs built around RISC processor cores are shipping each year and we forecast that this number will continue to grow, approaching 5 billion per year by 2011.”

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ST-ERICSSON 與 ARM 共同合作加速手機使用者經驗的創新
ST-Ericsson 的 U8500 平台率先整合 Mali-400TM繪圖處理器 為圖形開發人員提供先進環境

無線平台及半導體全球領導廠商 ST-Ericsson 與 ARM 今 (22)共同宣佈將透過 ARM MaliTM 開發人員中心(ARM Mali™ Developer Center)，針對內容及應用開發人員推出Mali技術的開發平台，以加速創新未來的行動使用方式。這項合作案將加速提升消費者使用行動裝置進行遊戲時的高品質圖形、視訊及音訊等體驗感受，同時將改善使用者介面，以提升效能、回應速度及 3D 圖形顯示效能。此平台的推出能夠使得開發人員大幅縮短新一代裝置的內容及應用的上市時程。
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ARM Mali 開發人員中心 (www.malideveloper.com) 為許多軟體工程背景的開發人員提供廣泛的資源，透過社群形式的入口網站提供圖形軟體開發工具、範例程式碼、文件、甚至最新發表的硬體相關資訊。

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ARM 媒體處理部門總經理 Lance Howarth 表示： 「ARM 一直樂見與 ST-Ericsson 進行這方面的合作機會。此一開發平台的推出將有助於加速實現 Mali 為所有消費性電子裝置呈現絕佳圖形的願景。使用該平台之後，Mali 開發人員中心的成員便能夠及早獲得並運用 Mali GPU 功能，並針對新一代消費性裝置製作絕佳的內容及應用。」
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) V- t0 Q# p: ~! V+ NST-Ericsson 3G 多媒體及平台部門副總裁 Marc Cetto 表示：「進階的圖形顯示是許多可攜式及消費性裝置的重要關鍵。我們與 ARM 的合作能夠使得 Mali GPU 的效能深入開發人員社群，而這項合作案預期能夠使得我們的客戶提前推出其本身的裝置適合的創新內容。」

為使開發人員獲得先進的環境，開發電路板採用 ST-Ericsson 的 U8500，這是首款能夠整合 ARM Mali-400 OpenGL ES2.0 及 OpenVG1.1 圖形處理單元的智慧型手機平台。U8500 是率先採用 ARM Cortex™-A9 MPCore™ SMP 雙核心處理器的行動平台之一，可支援高達 1080p 的高解析度視訊播放。

2009 年 10 月 21 至 23 日在美國加州聖克拉拉舉辦的 ARM Techcon3 將展示此開發電路板。

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開發人員透過入口網站即可取得完整Khronos OpenGL ES, OpenVG
: V# X" T9 H% z5 W% V以及其它的開發資源、合作支援、開發工具與Mali GPU硬體設計平台
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/ N' p2 X7 F& m+ e; HARM於加州聖塔克拉拉舉辦的TechCon 3宣佈成立ARM® Mali™ 開發人員中心(ARM® Mali™ Developer Center)，廣泛提供繪圖與嵌入式應用的資源，協助開發人員運用Khronos OpenGL ES 1.1 與 2.0版、 OpenVG 1.0 與 1.1版以及其它 API。只要是Mali產業生態系統成員，開發人員即可運用Mali繪圖處理器(GPU)平台，開發最佳產品。
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- M# z3 z5 X* g3 D3 t目前已經有包括博通(Broadcom)、樂金電子(LG Electronics)、 聯發科技(Mediatek)、ST-Ericsson 以及意法半導體(STMicroelectronics) 等24家公司取得Mali硬體授權，是全球取得最多技術授權的繪圖處理器架構。由於廣受全球頂尖晶片供應商採用，以Mali技術為基礎的晶片開始普及，線上Mali 開發人員中心將有助於加速開發，為採用Mali架構的廣泛應用帶來絕佳的影像和多媒體經驗。
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開發人員與中介軟體供應商透過不斷擴大的Mali產業生態鏈，得以密切地與ARM、OEM廠商以及晶片夥伴合作，以縮短上市時程並降低將進階繪圖功能導入各種數位裝置的成本，包括功能手機、智慧型手機、小筆電、遊戲機、個人導航系統、車用儀表板、機上盒以及數位電視。

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Mali 開發人員中心旨在激發創新，並成為開發高品質內容和應用的觸媒，以符合新一代裝置的需求。開發人員透過授權可優先使用先進的Mali硬體，開發適用於各種OEM平台的繪圖內容，並提前推出高效能之消費性產品。
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4 Z( ^6 @* ?' u" M9 OTAT技術長Fredrik Ademar指出：「具備卓越使用者經驗與高階繪圖功能的裝置之所以經常延遲上市，是因為OEM規格常在最後一刻改變，影響了平台的特點和功能。Mali 開發人員中心將帶來正面的改變，有助於在產品推出之前，即可以善用Mali架構開發進階繪圖解決方案。」
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ARM 多媒體處理部門總經理Lance Howarth表示：「Mali 開發人員中心將有助於開發新一代的使用者介面、遊戲、瀏覽以及導航功能。由於開發人員長期以來迫切需要廣泛取得OpenGL ES 與OpenVG資源，Mali 開發人員中心將可有效地加速開發高階繪圖。開發人員經由授權取得大量的Mali繪圖堆疊(Mali graphics stack)以及存取ARM Mali產業生態系統，該入口網站將促進創新、降低開發成本、縮短上市時程，並推動新一代繪圖應用的發展。」

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Digital Aria 的工程部門副總裁Min-Ho Ahn 表示：「Mali 開發人員中心意味著繪圖開發已向前邁進了一大步。，即便對Digital Aria這種專注於嵌入式繪圖的公司來說，欲開發別出心裁的動態造型以及高畫質的3D使用者介面仍然是很大挑戰。我們藉由結合高效能的Mali繪圖處理器以及Mali 開發人員中心的珍貴資源與支援，將開發出能提高獲利並縮短上市時程的軟體。」
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. g& W, }3 q# l+ j! FST-Ericsson的3G多媒體事業業部門總監Teppo Hemia表示：「本公司承諾將應用新一代的使用者經驗於可攜式產品。身為Mali社群的主要會員，我們將與ARM以及Mali 社群密切合作，將進階繪圖應用於本公司開發的平台並加速創新。Mali 開發人員中心使開發人員得以優先使用開發工具、硬體和其他資源，促進創新並為整體產業生態系統帶來利益。」
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0 Z9 B1 A( c7 i1 v; o1 n: m. p透過Mali入口網站，繪圖與嵌入式應用開發人員，以及中介軟體廠商皆可取得全面的支援，包括免費的開發工具、豐富的資訊、硬體與社群論壇，以加速整合至Mali繪圖處理器的平台。此項服務將顯著降低搭載螢幕之裝置的高端繪圖開發成本，並縮短其上市時程。最終目標是降低整體價值鏈的繪圖總成本。