真乄科技業的頂尖投資團隊

ARM 稍早前公佈了下一代 ARMv8 架構，將包含該公司首個 64位元指令集，在消費及企業市場中，把基於 ARM 的處理器推進到全新領域。
在 ARM TechCon 2011 大會中， ARM 技術長 Mike Muller 表示，新的v8架構將包含2個主要的執行狀態： AArch64 和 AArch32 ，以及稍早前曾介紹過的針對64位元處理指令集的全新 A64 ，後者也將繼續支援ARM的現有指令集。

“ARM v8 完全支援32位元的ARMv7a軟體，”Muller表示，而該架構是為了最大化從32位元到64位元應用的優勢所設計的。

這將把更具能效的64位元運算優勢帶入更多種應用中，如高階伺服器和運算領域，而且還能向後相容於現有軟體，並為當前軟體提供一個透過共存架構升級的途徑，他表示。

“64位元的作業系統可以很輕易且高效地支援現有的32位元軟體，”他解釋道。

談到競爭對手英特爾(Intel)，Muller表示，儘管這個產業依循著摩爾定律發展，但卻已面臨瓶頸了。他指出，多核心是很好的發展方向，ARM確信將來我們將會朝更多更具能效的核心整合之路發展，而不是僅將一些不具能效的核心放在一起。整體而言，Muller強調，現在的問題已經來到系統級，而非單純的核心問題了。

ARM的合作夥伴Nvidia已宣佈瞄準伺服器領域，但在前64位元ARM架構公佈以前，該公司並不具備足夠的競爭力將此一構想轉化為現實，伺服器的買主們不會將資金投注在無法處理其軟體的設備上。

不過，儘管此次公佈新架構意義重大，但Muller仍表示，要建構一個新架構並非一蹴可幾，可能需要幾年時間。“建立生態系統需要幾年時間才足夠，”他說。

事實上，首款基於ARMv8的處理器預計將在2012年問世，預計2014年將可見到執行此新架構的實際伺服器原型。

“未來4~5年內，為了手機和平板等市場，ARM勢必會朝64位元轉移，”Real World Technologies分析師David Kanter說。“有趣的是，ARM的合作夥伴如Calxeda 和 Nvidia等都瞄準伺服器市場，該領域面臨著超微(AMD)、IBM、英特爾(Intel)和甲骨文(Oracle)等公司的競爭，”他表示。

問題是，Kanter指出，無論ARM的64位元擴展功能是否完美，重點是ARM的合作夥伴能否提供具競爭力的產品，滿足客戶在性能，功效和可靠性方面的需求。

“顯然Nvidia的策略是瞄準搭載繪圖處理器(GPU)的高性能運算(HPC)市場，Kanter說。他同時指出，另一個問題是ARM的合作夥伴大多是無晶圓廠公司，他們在整個系統和平台方面的經驗也比較少，包括驗證和測試等。不像AMD、IBM、英特爾和甲骨文等，無晶圓廠業者比較缺乏客製化設計的專有知識。

Muller還指出，隨著系統日趨複雜，將需要增加更多的異質運算、系統分割，並解決設備的能效問題。“今天，所有的系統都受限於能源，”他說。“而解決方法是建構異質解決方案。”

編譯： Joy Teng

(參考原文： ARM unveils 64-bit architecture，by Sylvie Barak)

ARM Discloses Technical Details of the Next Version of the ARM Architecture

First details of ARMv8 architecture released

SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ARM today disclosed technical details of its new ARMv8 architecture, the first ARM architecture to include a 64-bit instruction set. ARMv8 broadens the ARM architecture to embrace 64-bit processing and extends virtual addressing, building on the rich heritage of the 32-bit ARMv7 architecture upon which market leading cores such as the Cortex™-A9 and Cortex-A15 processors are built.

"The current growth trajectory of data centers, driven by the viral explosion of social media and cloud computing, will continue to accelerate. The ability to handle this data increase with energy-efficient solutions is vital"

The ARM architecture is unique in its ability to span the full range of electronic devices and equipment, from tiny sensors through to large scale infrastructure equipment. Building on the industry standard 32-bit ARM architecture, the new ARMv8 architecture will expand the reach of ARM processor-based solutions into consumer and enterprise applications where extended virtual addressing and 64-bit data processing are required.

The ARMv8 architecture consists of two main execution states, AArch64 and AArch32. The AArch64 execution state introduces a new instruction set, A64 for 64-bit processing. The AArch32 state supports the existing ARM instruction set. The key features of the current ARMv7 architecture, including TrustZone®, virtualization and NEON™ advanced SIMD, are maintained or extended in the ARMv8 architecture.

"With our increasingly connected world, the market for 32-bit processing continues to expand and evolve creating new opportunities for 32-bit ARMv7 based processors in embedded, real-time and open application platforms," said Mike Muller, CTO, ARM. "We believe the ARMv8 architecture is ideally suited to enable the ARM partnership to continue to grow in 32-bit application spaces and bring diverse, innovative and energy-efficient solutions to 64-bit processing markets."

In support of the introduction of the ARMv8 architecture, ARM is working to ensure a robust design ecosystem to support the 64-bit instruction set. The ARM compiler and Fast Models with ARMv8 support have already been made available to key ecosystem partners. Initial support for a range of open source operating systems, applications and third-party tools is already in development. Working together the ARM partnership is collaborating to accelerate development of a 64-bit ecosystem, in many cases as a natural extension to the broad ecosystem in place to support ARMv7 based devices in the market today.

"ARM is an important partner for Microsoft," said KD Hallman, general manager, Microsoft Corp. "The evolution of ARM to support a 64-bit architecture is a significant development for ARM and for the ARM ecosystem. We look forward to witnessing this technology's potential to enhance future ARM-based solutions."

"The combination of NVIDIA's leadership in energy-efficient, high-performance processing and the new ARMv8 architecture will enable game-shifting breakthroughs in devices across the full range of computing – from smartphones through to supercomputers," said Dan Vivoli, senior vice president, NVIDIA.

"The current growth trajectory of data centers, driven by the viral explosion of social media and cloud computing, will continue to accelerate. The ability to handle this data increase with energy-efficient solutions is vital," said Vinay Ravuri, vice president and general manager of AppliedMicro's Processor Business Unit. "The ARM 64-bit architecture provides the right balance of performance, efficiency and cost to scale to meet these growing demands and we are very excited to be a leading partner in implementing solutions based on the ARMv8 architecture."

The ARMv8 architecture will enable the development of ARM architecture compatible devices that can be designed to maximize the benefits across both 32-bit and 64-bit application areas. This will bring the advantages of energy-efficient 64-bit computing to new applications such as high-end servers and computing, as well as offering backwards compatibility and migration for existing software through a consistent architecture.

The ARMv8 architecture specifications describing all aspects of the ARMv8 architecture are available now to partners under license. ARM will disclose processors based on ARMv8 during 2012, with consumer and enterprise prototype systems expected in 2014.

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