ARM processors look set to strengthen their position in 4G mobile basestation designs following the signing of a licence with China-based system-on-chip (SoC) developer HiSilicon.
With strong connections with China-based network infrastructure supplier Huawei, HiSilicon is a strategically important design partner for the Cambridge-based processor firm.
It will put ARM processors into the heart of basestations in 3G and 4G mobile networks in China and other markets.
"Over the last five years ARM has consistently increased its investment in China to enable and support innovation for important partners, such as HiSilicon," said Allen Wu, president, ARM China.
Already the processor of choice for mobile handsets, ARM is starting to penetrate new design areas including network infrastructure.
“We have been partnering with HiSilicon and Huawei for many years to develop a platform based on ARM technology,” said Wu.
"Partnering with ARM over the years allowed us to position HiSilicon as a global provider of solutions for wireless and networking infrastructure and digital media,” said Teresa He, vice president, HiSilicon.
“This latest agreement will provide us with the latest ARM IP to address the needs of our customers," said He.
This latest license agreement includes licences for ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore processor, ARM CoreLink CCI-400 Cache Coherent Interconnect fabric IP and the ARM Cortex-M3 processor.
The SoC company already has a licence for ARM Cortex-A9.
“The success of HiSilicon’s industry-first eight core ARM Cortex-A9 network SoC is a great example of ARM Partner innovation," said Wu.
HiSilicon Technologies, was formerly the Asic design centre of Huawei Technologies. With headquarters in Shenzhen of China, HiSilicon has set up design divisions in Beijing, Shanghai, the US and Sweden.
HiSilicon has also designed SoCs for network surveillance, videophone, DVB and IPTV.