ARM has announced the opening of a new R&D center at the Hsinchu Science Park, northern Taiwan. The focus of the center will be physical IP development and processor implementation to support the ARM Cortex processors, Mali GPUs and Artisan physical IP products, according to the microprocessor IP provider.

"The center will enable even closer interaction with local ARM partners and serve as an important focal point in the region for advanced technology engineering," ARM said in a statement. "Product development is now underway at the center for 28nm and 20nm technologies, targeting advanced ARM Cortex-A Series processors and Mali-T600 Series GPUs."

Speaking at a press event on November 17, ARM CEO Tudor Brown pointed out that the new design center in Taiwan will play a key bridge between the local design community and ARM's engineering centers around the world. ARM identifies the Taiwan semiconductor industry as a major role in its ecosystem, Brown said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) are among ARM's business partners in Taiwan. The IP licensing company recently struck a new deal with UMC providing the foundry's customers with access to its physical IP solutions validated on UMC's 28nm process technology.

Previously, ARM and TSMC forged a long-term partnership under which TSMC developed physical IP including memory products and standard cell libraries targeting the foundry's 28nm and 20nm processes.

Industry sources believe that the new design center will help ARM strengthen ties with its Taiwan-based partners including hardware manufacturers, and assist the IP vendor to move beyond smartphones into all connected devices including notebooks in the future.

Earlier in 2011, Microsoft disclosed that the next-generation Windows OS would work with ARM-based system on chip (SoC) designs.

Source:digitimes