Huawei's chip autonomy still needs to be tackled
With its advantages of low power consumption and high performance, ARM instruction set has long dominated the mobile terminal chip market such as smartphones and tablets. For many years, Huawei had been using the ARM-licensed instruction set, but due to U.S. government sanctions, ARM was forced to suspend the authorization of Huawei.
The ARM V9 license was approved, temporarily relieving the urgent need
After a period of negotiations, Huawei has finally been granted a license for a new version of the ARM V9 instruction set. But at the cost of paying ARM up to $1 billion a year in licensing fees, a high fee that will hit the profits of Huawei's chip business. This at least allows Huawei to temporarily solve the passive situation in the field of mobile terminal chips.
ARM said that the V9 architecture is not subject to U.S. export control regulations, so Huawei, which has a permanent license to the V8 architecture, can use the technology as soon as possible. This is crucial for the future of Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin high-end chips. Based on the V9 architecture, the performance of the next two generations of chips will be improved by about 30%.
Autonomous instruction sets are the fundamental way out
Although obtaining the ARM V9 authorization is a step forward, Huawei still needs to make continuous breakthroughs in the field of chip autonomy in order to completely get rid of the technology blockade. The chip instruction set is the core of chip design, and mastering the autonomous instruction set is the key to achieving true autonomy and control.
Huawei needs to increase R&D investment in its own instruction set and reduce its dependence on foreign companies such as ARM, so as to promote the development and growth of the domestic chip industry. Huawei's self-developed Lingxi instruction set is an important embodiment of this independent innovation.
The Lingxi instruction set integrates Huawei's rich experience and technology accumulation in chip design, and incorporates the latest technology concepts and design concepts. It is efficient, secure, and flexible, which can better meet the specific needs of Huawei products and further improve their performance and energy efficiency.
The future is promising, but there is still a long way to go
The Lingxi instruction set will become the core driving force of Huawei's chip technology. With the continuous evolution and upgrading of technology, the Lingxi instruction set will continue to be improved and optimized to provide more powerful technical support and guarantee for Huawei's products. The Lingxi instruction set will also become an important business card of Huawei in the global chip market, which will help Huawei win a greater voice in this field.
There is a long way to go in the transition from the ARM ecosystem to the autonomous instruction set ecosystem. Semiconductors are an international cooperation industry, lacking an ecosystem, and without the support of many vendor partners, no matter how good the instruction set is, it will not be able to succeed in the market. Huawei needs to continue to invest in chip design, manufacturing, software, and other aspects to truly achieve autonomy and control.
Even with the ARM V9 license, Huawei's competition in the field of mobile terminal chips is still fierce. Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm and other giants all have strong chip strength, and it is not easy for Huawei to stand out in this field.
The ARM V9 license has injected new impetus into the development of Huawei's chip technology, but in order to achieve complete autonomy and control, Huawei needs to make efforts in self-developed instruction sets. This is a long process that requires perseverance, determination, and patience on the part of Huawei. Only in this way can Huawei truly be invincible in the field of chips.