What is ARM anyway? - Editor's Desk (Patreon)

Tom gives an overview of what ARM is, how it doesn't make chips but is still responsible for the majority of mobile chip design, and some interesting aspects of its history.

NOTES

ARM is not a chip maker. A lot of folks don't realize this. Some do. But I thought I would dig into what ARM is to help clarify. Don't worry (or I suppose be hopeful) that I'm going to get into chip architecture and instruction sets. This will just talk about ARM's history and shed some light on who does what with ARM's intellectual property.

And while we discuss this, I'd like you to keep this thought in mind. What separates ARM from a patent troll? I'll circle back to that question at the end. I think it's a very important example that can help shape the line between proper and improper intellectual property protection.

ARM Holdings create Reduced Instruction Set Computing or RISC architectures for computer processors. It also designs cores that implement the instruction sets. It then licenses these designs to other companies to use to build products. It doesn't build any products itself.

ARM grew out of the UK company Acorn Computers, the folks who made the legendary BBC Micro. When working on the Acorn Business Computer, designers decided the available processors were not powerful enough. 

Engineer Sophie Wilson developed an instruction set that they implemented in hardware with Wilson and Steve Furber leading design of the Acorn RISC Machine or ARM. The first silicon samples made by VLSI were received and successfully tested on April 26, 1985. The chip was used as a secondary processor in the BBC Micro and the first ARM-based computer was the ACORN ARCHIMEDES IN 1987. 

Apple and VLSI began working with Acorn on newer versions of the ARM core and Acorn spun  out the design team as a joint venture to be called Advanced RISC Machines aka ARM Ltd. The ARM6 came out in 1992 and was used in the Apple Newton. 

The low power usage of its chip designs made it a favorite for PDAs and mobile phones.

ARM went public with an IPO in 1998.

Japanese company Softbank acquired ARM Holdings with a transaction that completed September 5, 2016.

There are a few kinds of licenses ARM sells

IP Cores are used to create micro controllers, CPUs and SoCs. The ARM core is combined with other parts to produce a complete device that can be made in semiconductor fabrication plants. 

Companies can license ARM technology into a SoC with other components like GPUs, radio baseboards for phones etc. 

A company may also design a chip with ARM cores alongside the company's own  optimizations and extensions. 

There's also the ARM Cortex license. This lets companies make modification to the design and the modifications will not be shared with other companies. Qualcomm licenses Built on ARM Cortex.

And companies can get an architectural license where they build their own CPU and license only the instruction set. Apple, Broadcom, Nvidia , Qualcomm and Samsung all do this. 

It's worth mentioning that ARM has other licenses including its Mali GPU, ARM supercomputer (offered by Cray) and a few others. 

OK so what separates ARM from being a patent troll? It doesn't actual make anything right?  That's often a big criticism of patent trolls. But ARM does contribute value to the ecosystem. It's not just collecting rent. It continues to develop new IP and it has no need to continue to protect old as the news much more valuable. That's what all intellectual property law, in my opinion, should have aqs it's goal. Encouraging the creation and development of the arts and sciences. yes there are problems with abuse of patents but ARM shows there is an example of how to do this largely right. 

Interesting eh?