Arm introduced the new Arm v9 architecture for the next generation of chips with advanced security and artificial intelligence. The first new Arm architecture in a decade, the platform is expected to support over 300 billion future chips.
Arm said the new architecture will continue to drive improvements in processing power. It expects CPU performance increases of more than 30 percent over the next two generations of mobile and infrastructure CPUs. In addition, the new capabilities in Armv9 support the shift from general-purpose to more specialized computing across each application, driven by the adoption of AI, the Internet of Things and 5G.
The Armv9 roadmap also introduces the Arm Confidential Compute Architecture (CCA). Confidential computing shields portions of code and data from access or modification while in-use, even from privileged software, by performing computation in a hardware-based secure environment.
The Arm CCA will introduce the concept of dynamically created Realms, useable by all applications, in a region that is separate from both the secure and non-secure worlds. For example, in business applications, Realms can protect commercially sensitive data and code from the rest of the system while it is in-use, at rest, and in transit.
To address the growing range of AI applications, Arm partnered with Fujitsu to create the Scalable Vector Extension (SVE) technology, which is at the heart of Fugaku, the world’s fastest supercomputer. Building on that work, Arm has developed SVE2 for Armv9 to enable enhanced machine learning and digital signal processing capabilities across a wider range of applications.
SVE2 enhances the processing ability of 5G systems, virtual and augmented reality, and ML workloads running locally on CPUs, such as image processing and smart home applications. Arm said it plans to further extend the AI capabilities of its technology in the coming years with substantial enhancements in matrix multiplication within the CPU, in addition to ongoing AI innovations in its Mali GPUs and Ethos NPUs.
The number of Arm-based chips shipped continues to accelerate, thanks to the spread of smartphones and the company's move into other devices. More than 100 billion devices based on Arm chips shipped over the last five years, and at the current rate, 100 percent of the world’s shared data will soon be processed on Arm - either at the endpoint, in the data networks or the cloud, the company said.
