GlobalFoundries this week announced that it had reached a definitive agreement to acquire Processor IP Solutions business from Synopsys, its second acquisition of a CPU IP business in less than a year, and its fifth major acquisition in one-and-a-half years. Synopsys's portfolio of ARC and RISC-V processor IPs will complement GloFo's technologies obtained with the MIPS acquisition. This will enable the company to broaden its offerings across automotive, embedded, industrial, wearables, and other emerging applications, which benefit from standard CPU IP and customized accelerators.
GlobalFoundries gets more CPU IP
As a result of the deal, GlobalFoundries will take over processor IP assets that include ARC-V (RISC-V), classic ARC CPU cores, DSP, and NPU IP that use the ARC framework. It will also benefit from the associated software ecosystem, such as the ARC MetaWare development toolkits. The acquisition also includes Synopsys's ASIP Designer and ASIP Programmer toolchains, which automate the development and deployment of application-specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs) that integrate base CPU cores with bespoke instructions, pipelines, or accelerators immediately supported by a compiler.
(Image credit: Synopsys)
The terms and conditions of the deal, expected to be closed in the second half of the year, have not yet been disclosed. Both companies have committed to a coordinated transition plan to ensure existing Processor IP customers continue to receive uninterrupted support, so Synopsys's customers will not be forced to migrate to other technologies due to the acquisition.
Upon closing the transaction, all the assets that are part of the Synopsys Processor IP Solutions (we will call it 'ARC' for the sake of simplicity) as well as 'expert teams' will become a part of MIPS, which operates like a separate company within GlobalFoundries (e.g., it can work with other foundries and license IP to companies that do not use GF's manufacturing services).
As a result, MIPS will control a vast range of IPs, such as MIPS RISC-V cores, as well as IP from Synopsys, which includes ARC-based CPU, DSP, and NPU cores, as well as ARC-V offerings featuring the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA).
RISC-V & ARC
(Image credit: RISC-V Foundation)
With RISC-V, GlobalFoundries can offer an extensible ISA, open-source software, and compatibility with a growing ecosystem. The value of ARC lies in its configurability, which enables developers to build ASIPs, processors with a custom ISA and features. Building system-on-chips (SoCs) with RISC-V general-purpose cores and bespoke ARC accelerators could provide an edge for GlobalFoundries' customers, as the technology benefits from burgeoning market penetration.
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