The Cortex-A57 is ARM's highest performing processor
ARM and TSMC have jointly taped-out the first 64-bit ARM Cortex-A57 processor on TSMC's 16nm FinFET process technology.
The completion of the final phase of the design process clears the way for TSMC to start mass producing the processors of chips next year.
ARM Processor Division executive vice president and general manager Tom Cronk said, "This first ARM Cortex-A57 processor implementation paves the way for our mutual customers to leverage the performance and power efficiency of 16nm FinFET technology."
ARM's Cortex-A57 processor is designed to power future mobile and enterprise computing devices to perform compute intensive applications such as high-end computer, tablet and server products, the company said.
Both the companies have collaborated in the implementation from RTL with ARM Artisan physical IP, TSMC memory macros, and EDA technologies enabled by TSMC's Open Innovation Platform (OIP) design ecosystem, over six months to tape-out the processor.
The chip was tested on a 16nm FinFET tool chain, with design services provided by the OIP ecosystem and ARM Connected Community partners.
