In 1978, a company named CPU quietly emerged in Cambridge, England.
Don’t be surprised, this CPU is different from the one we often refer to in computers.
Central Processing Unit, the full name of the CPU company, is Cambridge Processor Unit, which literally means “Cambridge Processor Unit”.
The founder of the CPU company was an Austrian physicist named Hermann Hauser and his friend, a British engineer named Chris Curry.
Hermann Hauser and Chris Curry
After the establishment of the CPU company, they mainly engaged in the design and manufacturing of electronic devices. Their first order was to manufacture a microcontroller system for gambling machines…
After the microcontroller system was developed, it was named Acorn System 1.
Acorn System 1
In 1979, as the business gradually got on track, the company changed its name to Acorn Computer Ltd.
What does Acorn mean? It means acorn. Yes, the thing that the squirrel was chasing in the Ice Age.
The trademark of Acorn Computer Ltd contains an acorn.
There is an interesting saying about why it is called Acorn, which is that they wanted to rank ahead of Apple in the phone book…
After Acorn System 1, they successively developed System 2, 3, 4, and a consumer-oriented cassette computer – Acorn Atom.
Acorn Atom
By 1981, the company encountered a rare opportunity – the BBC planned to broadcast a program across the UK to improve computer literacy and hoped Acorn could produce a computer to match.
This plan was very grand, and the UK government was also involved (half of the purchase cost would be subsidized by the government), and once the computers were procured, they would enter every classroom in the UK.
After taking on this task, Acorn began to work. However, they soon found that the hardware design of their product could not meet the demand. At that time, the trend of central processing unit development was shifting from 8-bit to 16-bit. Acorn did not have suitable chips available.
Initially, they planned to use 16-bit chips from National Semiconductor and Motorola. However, after evaluation, they found two flaws:
First, the execution speed of the chips was a bit slow, and the response time for interrupts was too long.
Second, the price was too high; a computer costing £500 had a processor chip that accounted for £100.
So, they decided to approach the then-popular Intel, hoping for some design materials and samples of the 80286 processor. However, Intel coldly rejected them.
Feeling defeated, Acorn decided to go it alone and make their own chips.
At that time, Acorn’s R&D staff found a study on a new type of processor at the University of California, Berkeley – simplified instruction set, which happened to meet their design requirements.
Based on this, after years of hard work, computer scientists Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber from Cambridge University finally completed the microprocessor design.
Sophie Wilson and Steve Furber
The former was responsible for the instruction set development, while the latter was responsible for chip design.
For this chip, Acorn named it Acorn RISC Machine.
Yes, this is the origin of the famous “ARM” acronym.
Acorn is the company name, Machine is the machine, and what does RISC mean?
As mentioned earlier, they based their chip on “simplified instruction set” technology. RISC stands for Reduced Instruction Set Computer.
Note! High-energy warning ahead, non-technical readers please skip…
Let me explain the significance of the “simplified instruction set”.
It is a concept relative to “complex instruction set (CISC)”. Early processors were all based on CISC architecture (including Intel’s processors), and over time, more and more instruction sets were added. Due to the immature technology of compilers at that time, programs were directly written in machine code or assembly language, and to reduce programming time, single instructions were gradually developed to handle complex operations. Designers only needed to write simple instructions and let the CPU execute them.
However, later it was discovered that only about 20% of the instructions in the entire instruction set were frequently used, accounting for about 80% of the entire program; the remaining 80% of instructions only accounted for 20% of the entire program (the typical 80/20 principle).
In 1979, Professor David Patterson from the University of California, Berkeley proposed the idea of RISC, advocating that hardware should focus on accelerating commonly used instructions while using common instructions to combine more complex instructions.
In simple terms, CISC has strong task processing capabilities and is suitable for desktop computers and servers. RISC, by simplifying CISC instruction types and formats and simplifying addressing methods, achieves energy efficiency, making it suitable for portable electronic products such as mobile phones, tablets, and digital cameras.
The first processor chip developed at that time was designated ARM1.
Let’s compare ARM1 with the Intel 80286 processor (commonly referred to as 286):
It can be seen that ARM1 and 80286 each have their strengths.
However, in the same year, in October 1985, Intel released the 80386. In front of the 80386, ARM1 was left far behind.
Intel 80386
32-bit, 275,000 transistors, frequency of 12.5MHz, later increased to 33MHz
Clearly, it was unrealistic for ARM to compete with the x86 series in terms of performance. ARM intentionally chose a different design route from Intel – while Intel continued to move towards high-performance x86 designs, ARM focused on low-cost and low-power research and development.
Let’s get back to the computer that the BBC wanted.
As mentioned earlier, the BBC proposed the requirement in 1981, and if they had to wait until 1985 for ARM1 to come out, it would be too late.
So, before the ARM1 was launched, Acorn had actually provided a solution to the BBC.
At that time, Acorn’s computer temporarily used the MOS 6502 processor (an 8-bit microprocessor developed by MOS Technology).
MOS 6502 processor
This computer was initially named Proton, later renamed BBC Micro.
BBC Micro
By 1984, about 80% of schools in the UK were equipped with this computer. Acorn completely showcased its presence in front of the British public.
Later, after the ARM processor was developed, it was used in subsequent models of the BBC Micro.
ARM chip inside the BBC Micro computer
After ARM1, Acorn successively launched several series, such as ARM2 and ARM3.
Time continued to move forward.
In 1990, Acorn established a company named ARM to collaborate with Apple.
The logo can be said to be quite simple
Note that here, ARM is the company name, not the chip name. The full spelling of this ARM is also different, it is Advanced RISC Machines.
The previous chip name:Acorn RISC Machine
The current company name:Advanced RISC Machines
ARM is a joint venture, with Apple investing £1.5 million, chip manufacturer VLSI investing £250,000, and Acorn itself investing £1.5 million in intellectual property and 12 engineers.
Nevertheless, ARM’s start was relatively modest. Their initial office location was a barn…
However, the internal environment of the barn was quite good.
In the first few years after its establishment, ARM’s performance was mediocre, and engineers were anxious, fearing they would lose their jobs at any moment.
In this situation, ARM decided to change their product strategy – they stopped producing chips and instead licensed their chip designs to other companies, adopting a “Partnership” open model.
Unexpectedly, it was this model that opened a new era for ARM.
Note! The following paragraph is key!
ARM adopted the IP (Intellectual Property) licensing business model, charging a one-time technology licensing fee and royalty.
Specifically, ARM has three licensing methods: processor, POP, and architecture licensing.
Processor licensing refers to licensing partners to use ARM-designed processors, which cannot be altered, but can be adjusted for frequency, power consumption, etc., according to their needs.
POP (processor optimization pack) licensing is a higher form of processor licensing, where ARM sells optimized processors to licensed partners, allowing them to design and produce performance-guaranteed processors under specific processes.
Architecture licensing allows partners to use ARM’s architecture, facilitating them to design processors according to their needs (e.g., Qualcomm’s Krait architecture and Apple’s Swift architecture were designed after obtaining ARM’s authorization).
Thus, licensing fees and royalties became the main source of income for ARM. In addition, there are revenues from software tools and technical support services.
For semiconductor companies, how much are the licensing fees and royalties? The one-time technology licensing fee ranges from $1 million to $10 million, and the royalty rate is generally between 1% and 2%.
It was precisely ARM’s licensing model that greatly reduced its R&D costs and risks. It established an ecosystem centered around ARM, making low-cost innovation possible.
After ARM proposed this cooperation model, they began to try –
In 1991, ARM licensed its products to British GEC Plessey Semiconductor Company.
In 1993, ARM licensed its products to Cirrus Logic and Texas Instruments (TI).
Cooperation with Texas Instruments brought significant breakthroughs for ARM and established its reputation, proving the feasibility of the licensing model.
Since then, more and more companies have participated in this licensing model and established cooperative relationships with ARM, including companies like Samsung and Sharp.
On this basis, ARM strengthened its commitment to the licensing model and began designing more cost-effective products.
In 1993, Apple launched a new handheld computer product – Newton. The ARM6 chip developed by ARM was used in this product.
Apple Newton Message Pad
Now regarded as the ancestor of PDAs and smartphones
Unfortunately, due to Newton’s overly advanced technology and some user experience flaws, it failed to gain market acceptance and ultimately ended in failure.
However, ARM accumulated experience and continued to improve its technology. Before long, ARM迎来了自己的黄金机遇——移动电话时代来临了。
ARM first welcomed a major customer – Nokia.
At that time, Nokia was advised to use Texas Instruments’ system design for the upcoming GSM phone, and this design was based on ARM chips.
Due to memory space issues, Nokia initially rejected ARM.
In response, ARM specially developed a 16-bit custom instruction set to reduce memory usage.
Thus, the Nokia 6110 became the first GSM phone to use an ARM processor, achieving great success after its launch.
Nokia 6110, many people have used or seen it
ARM then launched a series of chips such as ARM7, licensing them to over 165 companies. With the explosive popularity of mobile phones, ARM profited immensely.
On April 17, 1998, the fast-growing ARM Holdings was listed on both the London Stock Exchange and NASDAQ.
ARM listed on NASDAQ
After ARM went public, Apple, in the post-Jobs era, gradually sold its shares in ARM and invested the funds in the development of iPod products.
Given that Apple’s researchers were very familiar with ARM chip architecture, the iPod continued to use ARM chips.
Apple iPod
As we all know, under the leadership of Jobs, the iPod achieved tremendous commercial success.
But that’s not all; in 2007, a truly groundbreaking product emerged.
That was the iPhone.
The release of the Apple iPhone completely revolutionized mobile phone design, ushering in a new era.
The first generation iPhone used an ARM-designed chip manufactured by Samsung.
The hot sales of the iPhone and the rapid rise of the App Store completely bound global mobile applications to the ARM instruction set.
Shortly after, in 2008, Google launched the Android system, which was also based on the ARM instruction set.
By then, the smartphone market entered a rapid development phase, and ARM established its dominant position in the smartphone market.
In the same year, the shipment of ARM chips reached 10 billion units.
In 2011, even the traditional Wintel alliance (Windows + Intel) announced that the Windows 8 platform would support ARM architecture.
Intel must be regretting its decisions.
In fact, it was Intel that gradually pushed ARM to its current irreplaceable position. In the 90s, Qualcomm wanted to cooperate with Intel, but Intel thought the mobile phone market was too small and rejected the cooperation. Later, Apple also wanted to collaborate with Intel for the first generation iPhone but was similarly rejected. As a result, the mobile device market was handed over to ARM, and now Intel cannot reclaim it.
In June 2010, Apple expressed its intention to acquire ARM for $8.5 billion, but the ARM board rejected the offer.
On July 18, 2016, Masayoshi Son, who previously invested in Alibaba, and his Japanese SoftBank Group acquired ARM Group for £24.3 billion (approximately $30.9 billion).
Masayoshi Son
Thus, ARM became a wholly-owned subsidiary of SoftBank Group. However, SoftBank stated that it would not interfere with or influence ARM’s future business plans and decisions.
Finally, I think it’s necessary to briefly introduce ARM’s product system. This area is indeed a bit chaotic, and many industry insiders are easily confused.
Before the ARM11 chip, the relationship between each chip and its architecture was as follows:
The actual chip models are not limited to these
After the ARM11 chip, starting from the ARMv7 architecture, ARM’s naming convention changed.
The new processor family was named Cortex and divided into three series: Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M. Haha, did you notice? The three letters are A, R, and M.
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Cortex-A series (A: Application)
Designed for the growing consumer entertainment and wireless products, used in applications requiring high computing power, running rich operating systems, and providing interactive media and graphics experiences, such as smartphones, tablets, automotive entertainment systems, digital TVs, etc.
Cortex-A series
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Cortex-R series (R: Real-time)
Designed for systems requiring real-time operating applications, aimed at deep embedded real-time applications such as automotive braking systems, power transmission solutions, and large-capacity storage controllers.
Cortex-R series
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Cortex-M series (M: Microcontroller)
This series is aimed at the microcontroller field, mainly targeting cost and power-sensitive applications, such as smart measurement, human-machine interface devices, automotive and industrial control systems, household appliances, consumer products, and medical devices.
Cortex-M series
In fact, in addition to the three major series mentioned above, there is also a security-focused Cortex-SC series (SC: SecurCore), mainly used for government security chips.
Alright, after so much discussion, let’s summarize!
In short, ARM’s current position is attributed to both external opportunities and internal strategic factors.
They chose a path that is completely opposite to Intel. Intel has always adhered to a heavy asset, closed full industry chain business model, while ARM is a light asset, open win-win cooperation model.
For ARM, the success of its partners means its own success. Every company that conducts business with ARM has established a “win-win” symbiotic relationship with ARM.
ARM’s partnership community includes more than 1,200 partners
ARM’s DNA in low power consumption coincided with the explosive growth of mobile devices, ultimately leading to its glory.
In the upcoming era of the Internet of Things, it is foreseeable that ARM is likely to achieve even greater success.
I wonder what everyone has learned from ARM’s story. I have a few insights as follows:
1. When people are pushed to the limit, they can do anything.
2. What you think is your weakness may well be your strength.
3. If you can’t compete with your opponent, find a way to unite more friends.
Alright, that’s it for today. Thank you for your patience!
See you next time!
Source: Fresh Date Class (ID: xzclasscom), author Xiaozao Jun.
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