Where eagles dare
UK chip designer ARM has announced Korean electronics giant LG as the latest licensee of its next-generation Cortex A15 design. In addition, LG has also licensed Cortex A9, ARM's Mali GPU design and ARM CoreLink interconnect and system IP.
LG's biggest rival - Samsung - already licenses both Cortex A9 and Mali to make its own Exynos SoC and Apple joined the SoC game a year ago with the A4 chip. This news strongly implies LG is planning to join the growing movement towards device manufacturers who also make their own SoCs.
This isn't the first license LG has acquired from ARM, in fact it has been an ARM licensee since 1995, but a lot of ARM licenses concern smaller, lower powered chips and microcontrollers, and any phone OEM will likely be an ARM licensee in some form or other. But LG doesn't produce its own SoCs, to the best of our knowledge, so it would appear that's about to change.
"This new licensing agreement will provide LG with the next generation processor technology that will allow us to maintain leadership in display enabled connected devices, such as smart digital TV's and smart phones, and drive our platform strategy," said Boik Sohn, VP and head of System IC Center, LG Electronics.
"Working with technology leaders, such as LG Electronics, has helped ARM to develop the most advanced, energy efficient processors for use in key markets, such as home and mobile computing," said Ian Drew, EVP of marketing at ARM. "With access to the latest ARM IP, LG will be well positioned to maintain its technology leadership and drive innovation in display technology and smart connected devices."
