ARM and SoftBank: A Joint Vision of the Future!

Next week is ARM TechCon and I’m extra excited about this one because of the SoftBank acquisition. In fact, the opening keynote says it all. ARM CEO Simon Segar and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son will discuss the next chapter in the book of ARM. To better prepare for this keynote you should probably read our book “Mobile Unleashed: The History of ARM”. SemiWiki members can get a free PDF version HERE. IF you are not a member please join HERE as my guest.

ARM is poised for a new chapter in its growth as part of the SoftBank Group, the global technology player. The technology, the business model, and the partnership remain at the heart of what ARM does, but the future holds greater possibilities.

For the opening keynote of ARM TechCon 2016, we are pleased to welcome Masayoshi Son, the chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp., to the stage for his first public appearance with ARM since this historic acquisition. ARM CEO Simon Segars will begin the session by sharing his perspective on the acquisition, then welcome Mr. Son.

Mr. Son will discuss his own professional journey, the innovation that fuels his passion, and his broad vision of a happier, smarter, better connected world. Following the keynote, Mr. Son and Mr. Segars will take the stage together to talk about the acquisition and what lies ahead for the ARM and SoftBank ecosystems.

ARM TechCon is also a great place to spend time with your favorite EDA company. In fact one of my favorite EDA companies, Mentor Graphics, has an ARM TechCon landing page HERE where you can see a schedule of their technical sessions plus what they are demonstrating in their booth.

Spoiler Alert: Mentor has a wide range of embedded demos including Automotive, IoT (with ARM Trust Zone), Medical, and Industrial Robotics. Here are the embedded technical session abstracts:

Making Full use of Emerging ARM based Heterogeneous Multicore SoCs
The complexity and pace of heterogeneous SoC architectures is accelerating at blinding speed. While these complex hardware architectures enable product vision, they also create new and difficult challenges. Running an OS on a single core is child’s play. This is also true for running SMP-capable OS on homogenous multicore processors. The modern day SoC now combines asymmetric multiple cores, graphics processing units, offload engines and more on a single piece of silicon. This session will discuss opportunities for system partitioning and consolidation, and some of the key issues and challenges of developing and debugging software on these complex systems. Presenter: Felix Baum, Product Manager, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division

Hard Real-time Virtualization – How Hard Can It Be?
The ARMv8-R architecture offers effective virtualization while maintaining the hard real-time response needed to control applications in the industrial, automotive, medical, and military markets. Virtualization enables safety, security, and reliability and it can be the key to successful, cost-effective development and deployment of complex software applications. This session brings together engineers from ARM and Mentor Graphics to describe how these processors can be applied in next-generation, highly-assisted automotive driving systems. These safety-related applications are kept free from interference by the underlying isolation present in the new ARMv8-R processor architecture. Presenters: Felix Baum, product manager, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division – Jon Taylor, Product Specialist, ARM

Device Software: Where Safety Meets Security
Safety has been codified in several industry standards such as ISO 26262 for automotive and IEC 61508 for industrial where software has become a vital part of both the device and ensuring its safety. Security has now become critically important for device manufacturers and their suppliers, including those that supply COTS software.

Existing standards define the lifecycle leading to the creation of safety critical software, but do not say anything directly about security. Cybersecurity, however, is now an important consideration for manufacturers, governmental agencies, and the public at large. Fortunately, there is significant overlap between safety and security software development, and the practices underlying safe software development can be extended to security.

This session discusses the overlap between the two practices, and what to consider when fulfilling governmental and industry recommendations for cybersecurity over and above what is required for safety. Presenter: Robert Bates, Chief Safety Officer , Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division.

Making Sure Your UI Makes the Most of the ARM-based SoC: Performance Matters
When architecting user interfaces for embedded devices, it’s not uncommon for developers to hit performance problems on the target hardware. This session looks at the process of how to implement compelling UI designs on ARM-based architectures and provides guidance to ensure UI performance is efficiently utilized via the SoC. Examples from automotive, medical, and industrial applications will be cited. Hands-on performance analysis techniques and tooling will be used throughout the presentation. Presenter: Phil Brumby, Senior Technical Marketing Engineer, Mentor Graphics Embedded Systems Division.

I hope to see you there!