ARM Gets Two Big Helpers for 64-Bit ARMv8 Server Development

The research and development of ARM's 64-bit processor platform is already well underway, but the chips will come to nothing if there aren't any servers compatible with them, so ARM is working to make sure that doesn't become a problem.

Chips designed on the ARMv8 micro-architecture, the first ARM logic with 64-bit support, will be mass-produced starting in 2013/2014.

Assuming reports are accurate, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company will use the 16nm process for them.

In the meantime, ARM has to secure deals with server and server platform developers, preferably well-established ones.

Overall, the company is succeeding: Red Hat, Inc. and Applied Micro Circuits Corporation have entered a collaboration for the development of a 64-bit ARM server design platform, the AppliedMicro X-Gene Server on a Chip.

Specifically created for enterprise and cloud server deployment, X-Gene offers high performance and integration at a low power draw.

The demonstration programmed for November 1, at the upcoming 2012 ARM TechCon, will have Jon Masters, chief ARM architect at Red Hat, showing just how much the total cost of ownership (TCO) can be cut down by the device.

The panel will be named "ARM 64-bit Architecture and the Ecosystem: The Intersection of Open Software and Hardware" and will be co-hosted by ARM and AppliedMicro. We will be sure to report on anything of importance revealed during the proceedings.

For those wondering how Red Hat is contributing, the open source technology provider is developing support for X-Gene, and 64-bit ARM in general, within the Fedora Linux community, for AArch64 (a different name for the ARMv8).

"Red Hat is collaborating with AppliedMicro to enable support for ARM's 64-bit ARMv8 architecture used in the upcoming X-Gene Server-on-Chip designs. We aim to have a remix of Fedora 19 available in time to support the roll out of that platform," said Jon Masters, chief ARM architect at Red Hat.