Via readies ARM-based SoC

WHAT WITH NO SIGN YET of VIA's 64-bit Isiah core that was due in 2006, and Intel pressuring it to stop making X86 CPUs altogether, we weren't entirely surprised to hear the news that Via had jumped on the ARM bandwagon, and readying a new processor based on the cool-running technology.

Last year the Taipei company announced an extended agreement with ARM that included two CPU cores - the ARM926EJ-S and the ARM968E-S, part of the common ARM9 family rather than the more recent ARM11 series used by chips such as Freescale's iMX-31.

But the juicy rumour we've heard is that Via may be going back to its tried and tested model of piggybacking off the success of others, through making drop-in replacements for industry-standard chips. And in this case it's the IntelMarvell PXA270, which has found its way into all sorts of designs since its launch in 2004.

Intel originally committed to manufacture this chip until 2009, but the rumour is that Marvell has extended this period. However Via's strategy will likely be to offer its chip even beyond this, and of course at a slightly lower price.

However, jumping over to the Via chip wouldn't be anywhere near as straightforward as it was dropping a C3 into a Socket370 board. With the absence of a BIOS and Plug-and-Play functionality, embedded chips tend to have their code tied a lot closer to the hardware, so while both the PXA270 and Via's chips will run ARM5TE software, there will be some big differences to work around.

We're waiting to hear more about clock speeds, integrated functionality and launch dates, but by combining their existing IP with bought in designs, it could be considerably quicker and easier for VIA to make money on this model than trying to take on Tweedledum and Tweedledee at designing x86 chips. µ

See Also
Intel orders rival to stop making CPUs
Via-ARM deal
VIA extends licencing agreement with ARM