From ARM7 to such a Large CPU cores Port-Folio

By SemiWiki

July 10, 2014

I have heard about ARM processor for the very first time in 1990, when I was interviewed by ES2 Design Center manager before being hired to subcontract an ASIC design for ES2. I don’t know why, but I remember very well that he told me about two of the ES2 partners: ARM as a processor IP core provider and TSMC as a Foundry partner if, by chance, one of the ASIC socket had to run into high production volume (at that time, ES2 was known to support fast prototyping, thanks to an ebeam based processing flow; good for prototypes, not really suited for large production volume). Then, in 1995, ES2 was bought by Atmel and the CEO Georges Perlegos decided to build a brand new fab supporting 350nm to 180nm in Rousset, France, in 1999. I joined Atmel at that time as (Standard Cell) ASIC PMM, reporting to the same person. Our job was not only to win ASIC design in front of the traditional competitors, but also to face not less than three internal competitors: Gate Array (US based group), MHS ASIC (France) and TEMIC ASIC (Germany). Thus, we had to severely brainstorm to highlight our differentiators! The most important was clearly our ability to support ASIC integrating ARM core, our group managing all the ARM-related developments in Rousset. This positioning was good, but the ASIC business decline was inevitable… That’s why my former boss is no more in charge of the ASIC business, but of ARM based Microcontroller family. Within Atmel, ARM based Microcontroller product line has grown from less than $10 million in 2003, to reach several $100 million in 2013…

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