Technology Leaders Join Forces to Bring an Open Acceleration Framework to Data Centers and Other Markets

AMD, ARM, Huawei, IBM, Mellanox, Qualcomm, and Xilinx collaborate on new Cache Coherent Interconnect for Accelerators (CCIX) that will allow multiple processor architectures and accelerators to seamlessly share data

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 23, 2016 -- Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), ARM (NASDAQ:ARMH), Huawei, IBM (NYSE:IBM), Mellanox (NASDAQ:MLNX), Qualcomm Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), and Xilinx, Inc. (NASDAQ:XLNX) have joined forces to bring a high-performance open acceleration framework to data centers. The companies are collaborating on the specification for the new Cache Coherent Interconnect for Accelerators (CCIX). For the first time in the industry, a single interconnect technology specification will ensure that processors using different instruction set architectures (ISA) can coherently share data with accelerators and enable efficient heterogeneous computing – significantly improving compute efficiency for servers running data center workloads.

Accelerating applications in the data center has become a requirement due to power and space constraints. Applications such as big data analytics, search, machine learning, NFV, wireless 4G/5G, in-memory database processing, video analytics, and network processing, benefit from acceleration engines that need to move data seamlessly among the various system components. CCIX will allow these components to access and process data irrespective of where it resides, without the need for complex programming environments. This will enable both off-load and bump-in-the-wire inline application acceleration while leveraging existing server ecosystems and form factors, thereby lowering software barriers and improving total cost of ownership (TCO) of accelerated systems.

"AMD strongly supports development of open standards to make heterogeneous computing more pervasive," said Gerry Talbot, AMD corporate fellow and vice president of I/O and circuit technologies. "By joining with others in the industry to develop new interconnect specifications to accelerate performance, AMD continues its commitment to open, heterogeneous computing."

"A 'one size fits all architecture' approach to data center workloads does not deliver the required performance and efficiency," said Lakshmi Mandyam, director server systems and ecosystems, ARM. "CCIX enables more optimized solutions by simplifying software development and deployment of applications that benefit from specialized processing and hardware off-load, delivering higher performance and value to data center customers."

"IBM Power Systems™ have recently demonstrated a total commitment to openness as a catalyst for industry innovation, creating benefits in cost and performance to clients in a post-Moore's Law era," said Brad McCredie, IBM Fellow and Vice President of POWER Development. "IBM is committed to working with like-minded industry leaders to expand our efforts around open coherency to help meet our clients' growing cognitive needs."

"CCIX enables greater performance and connectivity capabilities over existing interconnects, and actually paves the road to the next generation CPU – Accelerator – Network standard interface," said Gilad Shainer, vice president of Marketing at Mellanox. "With an anticipated broad eco-system support of the CCIX standard, data centers will now be able to optimize their data usage, thereby achieving world-leading applications efficiency and scale."

"Qualcomm Technologies is excited about the development of a new technology enabling efficient, high-performance architectures in an open, ISA-agnostic platform," said Vinay Ravuri, vice president of product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. "The data center of the future demands open architectures enabling choice of compute, acceleration and interconnect technologies, and this is a significant step forward in delivering on that goal."

"CCIX will leverage existing server interconnect infrastructure and deliver higher bandwidth, lower latency, and cache coherent access to shared memory," said Gaurav Singh, vice president of Architecture at Xilinx. "This will result in a significant improvement in the usability of accelerators and overall performance and efficiency of data center platforms."

For more information on CCIX visit http://www.ccixconsortium.com/.

About AMD

For more than 45 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies ― the building blocks for gaming, immersive platforms, and the datacenter. Hundreds of millions of consumers, leading Fortune 500 businesses, and cutting-edge scientific research facilities around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work, and play. AMD employees around the world are focused on building great products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, Facebook and Twitter pages.

About ARM

ARM (LSE: ARM, NASDAQ: ARMH.US) designs technology at the heart of the World's most advanced digital products. We are enabling the development of new markets and transformation of industries and society, invisibly creating opportunity for a globally connected population. Our scalable, energy-efficient processor designs and related technologies deliver intelligence wherever computing happens, ranging from sensors to servers, including smartphones, tablets, digital TVs, enterprise infrastructure and the Internet of Things.

Our innovative technology is licensed by ARM Partners who have shipped more than 86 billion System on Chip (SoCs) containing our intellectual property. Together with our Connected Community, we are breaking down barriers to innovation for developers, designers and engineers, ensuring a fast, reliable route to market for leading electronics companies. Learn more and join the conversation at http://community.arm.com.

About Huawei

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Our aim is to enrich life and improve efficiency through a better connected world, acting as a responsible corporate citizen, innovative enabler for the information society, and collaborative contributor to the industry. Driven by customer-centric innovation and open partnerships, Huawei has established an end-to-end ICT solutions portfolio that gives customers competitive advantages in telecom and enterprise networks, devices and cloud computing. Huawei's 170,000 employees worldwide are committed to creating maximum value for telecom operators, enterprises and consumers. Our innovative ICT solutions, products and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world's population. Founded in 1987, Huawei is a private company fully owned by its employees. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:
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About IBM

For more information visit www.ibm.com

About Mellanox

Mellanox Technologies is a leading supplier of end-to-end InfiniBand and Ethernet interconnect solutions and services for servers and storage. Mellanox interconnect solutions increase data center efficiency by providing the highest throughput and lowest latency, delivering data faster to applications and unlocking system performance capability. Mellanox offers a choice of fast interconnect products: adapters, switches, software, cables and silicon that accelerate application runtime and maximize business results for a wide range of markets including high-performance computing, enterprise data centers, Web 2.0, cloud, storage and financial services. More information is available at: http://www.mellanox.com.

About Qualcomm

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ:QCOM) is a world leader in 3G, 4G and next-generation wireless technologies. Qualcomm Incorporated includes Qualcomm's licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of its patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of Qualcomm's engineering, research and development functions, and substantially all of its products and services businesses, including its semiconductor business, QCT. For more than 30 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter and Facebook pages.

About Xilinx

Xilinx is the leading provider of All Programmable FPGAs, SoCs, MPSoCs, and 3D ICs. Xilinx uniquely enables applications that are both software defined and hardware optimized – powering industry advancements in Cloud Computing, Embedded Vision, Industrial IoT, and 5G Wireless. For more information, visit www.xilinx.com.