Synopsys and Broadcom Expand Collaboration to Deploy ARC Processors in Multimedia and Networking Solutions

Synopsys, Inc.  announced that Broadcom Corporation extended its license agreement providing access to Synopsys’ DesignWare® ARC® Processors for an expanded range of advanced multimedia and networking system-on-chip (SoC) designs. Broadcom standardized on ARC processors to deliver advanced video compression capabilities in its SoCs for high-volume consumer devices. Deploying optimized video compression technology is increasingly important to conserve network bandwidth as global service providers stream high definition (HD) and ultra HD video content to a broader range of devices.

“We have been a longstanding and successful user of ARC processors in our multimedia products,” said Daniel Marotta, executive vice president and general manager, Broadband & Connectivity Group at Broadcom Corporation. “The new agreement enables us to take advantage of the ARC processors’ power-performance efficiency in a wider range of products to deliver more differentiated solutions to our customers.”

Synopsys’ DesignWare ARC Processor portfolio consists of configurable 32-bit RISC processors that are optimized to meet the performance, power and area requirements of a wide range of embedded applications, from ultra-low power internet-of-things (IoT) to embedded Linux. The highly configurable ARC processor cores allow designers to implement only the logic required to meet the specific performance requirements for each processor instance in an SoC, enabling significant power and area savings. The ARC processors’ extensible instruction set lets users define their own custom instructions to dramatically improve application-specific performance while reducing power consumption and code size. All ARC processors are synthesizable, can be implemented in any foundry or process and are supported by a complete and integrated development tool suite, including commercial and open-source tools for design, simulation and software development. In addition, the embARC Open Software Platform gives ARC software developers online access to a comprehensive suite of free and open-source software that eases the development of code for the IoT and other embedded applications.

“Synopsys enables leading companies like Broadcom to meet the demanding performance and power requirements of their next-generation designs with highly-efficient processors that can be tailored for their specific applications,” said John Koeter, vice president of marketing for IP and prototyping at Synopsys. “The expanded collaboration with Broadcom is a testament to the robustness and quality of Synopsys’ ARC processors, and enables them to focus on their product differentiation, while accelerating time to market.”