GigaDevice and Arm Technology deepen technical cooperation to jointly create opportunities for Arm MCU innovation

Beijing, China (August 15, 2024) - GigaDevice Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "GigaDevice"), an industry-leading semiconductor device supplier, and Arm Technology (China) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Arm Technology") jointly announced that the two parties will further strengthen their technical cooperation in embedded chip design, microcontroller product planning, etc., and sign a multi-year Arm Total Access technology licensing subscription license agreement to work together to win the Arm MCU "core" opportunity.

Li Baokui, CTO and General Manager of MCU Division of GigaDevice said: "GigaDevice has always relied on the world's leading Arm® technology ecosystem to establish a complete Arm general-purpose MCU product matrix, and its technical strength has been recognized, which is largely due to our in-depth cooperation with Arm Technology. We are very pleased to be the first MCU manufacturer in China to sign the Arm Total Access technology licensing subscription license agreement and continue to deepen our cooperative relationship. The new Arm Total Access solution is highly consistent with GigaDevice's all-round planning for future product roadmaps. This is beneficial for us to integrate advantageous resources, continue to achieve commercial leadership and technological innovation, and accelerate the process of product launch."

Xu Yatao, Executive Vice President of Sales and Business of Arm Technology said: "GigaDevice is the leader in the domestic general-purpose MCU market and a long-term and important partner of Arm Technology. The two parties have carried out extensive and fruitful cooperation for a long time. This time, GigaDevice chose the Arm Total Access solution and became the first MCU manufacturer in China to sign a contract, which undoubtedly set a new example for the collaborative creation of "cores" among the local semiconductor industry chain. In the future, facing the wave of intelligent terminal innovation driven by end-side AI, we look forward to continuing to work with GigaDevice to continuously promote product innovation and ecological co-construction with MCU as the core to achieve win-win development.

Based on the mainstream Arm technology ecosystem, we continue to expand the Arm MCU product portfolio

Since launching the first domestic general-purpose MCU series based on the Arm Cortex®-M core in 2013, GigaDevice has been based on the mainstream Arm technology ecosystem and has steadily developed into a leader in the field of high-performance general-purpose MCUs in China. Over the past decade, the company has continued to build and improve its product matrix based on the Arm architecture, providing a rich selection of products covering 51 series and more than 600 models, with cumulative shipments exceeding 1.5 billion units. It has successfully built a general-purpose MCU ecosystem around the Arm core that fully covers the high, medium and low-end markets, meeting a wide range of development and application needs such as high performance, low power consumption, strong real-time, wireless, and automotive regulations.

In the high-end market, the GD32H7 series microcontroller is the first ultra-high-performance MCU based on the Arm Cortex-M7 core in China, breaking through the boundaries of traditional MCUs, supporting real-time control with a main frequency of up to 600MHz and large-capacity storage space, and providing powerful computing support for innovative applications such as complex computing, multimedia technology, and edge computing. The GD32E5 series microcontroller uses the advanced Arm Cortex-M33 core, which is not only equipped with industry-leading processing power and power efficiency, but also has excellent connectivity features and more economical development costs, which can fully meet the multi-functional integration and workload requirements of industrial applications such as digital energy, motor control, and mixed signal processing.

In addition, GigaDevice is continuously promoting the development of multiple new MCU products based on the Arm Cortex-M core, including the GD32G5 series using the Cortex-M33 core, and the GD32C2 series using the Cortex-M23 core. These new products are fully deployed in the power supply and motor, entry-level consumer and other markets, adapting to diversified application development needs and cost considerations.

The in-depth cooperation between GigaDevice and Arm Technology has not only successfully created a number of MCUs based on Arm technology, but also jointly promoted embedded technology innovation. Currently, the two parties are preparing to collaborate on products based on the Cortex-M52 core (previously known as "Star" STAR-MC2 in the Chinese market) and the Cortex-R52 core. Among them, the Cortex-M52 adopts the Armv8.1-M architecture and is the smallest, most area- and cost-effective processor among all currently supported Arm Helium™ technology, which can provide stronger AI capabilities for small, low-power IoT devices.

Signed the Arm Total Access program to fully meet the needs of flexible chip innovation

At present, the big model wave is accelerating the evolution of industry intelligence. Smart cars, AIoT, smart phones, PCs, data centers and other fields are booming, which puts forward new requirements for the architecture, computing power, security and other aspects of the underlying chips. The complexity of chip design continues to increase, and the speed of product iteration and mass production is also accelerating. In addition, the emergence of emerging application markets has undoubtedly brought new challenges to chip design companies.

Faced with current challenges in technology, development, business, cost, etc., GigaDevice's complete product matrix based on the Arm architecture has become the key to maintaining its leading position in the MCU field. By adopting the Arm Total Access solution, GigaDevice can fully and timely obtain the latest Arm technology and its various IP resources, advanced tools and models, professional support and training services, and rich software and physical design resources. According to its own business needs and plans, it can flexibly use and explore the Arm IP solution portfolio to promote multiple key projects at the same time, achieve one-stop acceleration of various MCU chip designs, and thus consolidate its competitiveness in the wave of intelligent innovation.

Since its launch in the domestic market this year, the "Arm Technology License Subscription" model has helped chip companies including GigaDevice to cope with more complex and time-sensitive chip development needs with its flexible, convenient and cost-effective product portfolio and service support. In just a few months, the number of authorized customers has reached more than 20. The two parties signed the Arm Total Access plan in this model.

As the pace of intelligent embedded development accelerates, GigaDevice will undoubtedly play a key role in this evolution with its breakthrough technological innovation, diversified product layout and in-depth market insights. In the future, based on the rich and leading Arm technology platform, Arm's self-developed business products, and the innovative "Arm technology license subscription" model, Arm and GigaDevice will continue to carry out more diversified and close technical collaboration and ecological co-construction, and jointly draw up the blueprint for Arm MCU innovation.