In the past decade, ARM's chip architecture has been stuck in the Armv8 version, and although it has been updated and expanded many times for this architecture, there has never been a large-scale upgrade across generations. Until recently, ARM finally introduced the new Armv9 architecture, which has been hailed as the biggest change in ARM chip technology in a decade. Compared with the previous Armv8, the Armv9 architecture has been significantly improved in many areas such as performance, security, and artificial intelligence capabilities, and it is expected that the performance of chips based on this architecture will increase by more than 30% in the next two generations.
ARM executives revealed that the Armv9 architecture will support the next 300 billion ARM-based chips, which can be said to be the key to the development of computer technology in the next decade. In addition to the significant improvement in performance, Armv9 will also help ARM chips to be more widely used in emerging fields such as 5G, data centers, automobiles, and the Internet of Things.
ARM has made it clear that the Armv9 architecture is not subject to the U.S. Export Administration Regulations. This is a major piece of good news for Huawei, which has a permanent license for Armv8, which means that Huawei is expected to obtain the Armv9 license as soon as possible, helping the stable development of its chip design team and paving the way for the upgrade of the Kirin series chips.
It is good to be authorized by V9
ARM officially released the Armv9 architecture on March 31, which is the first major adjustment of the CPU architecture in nearly 10 years since the launch of the Armv8 architecture in October 2011. Compared to Armv8, Armv9 has breakthrough enhancements in three areas: security, AI capabilities, and overall performance.
In terms of security, Armv9 introduces a new security architecture called CCA (Confidential Computing Architecture). CCA can perform computing tasks and protect code and data from access or modification by creating a secure, hardware-based operating environment that cannot be interfered with by even privileged software. This helps address security issues such as spatiotemporal vulnerabilities that have plagued software for a long time.
To enhance AI capabilities, Armv9 uses the SVE2 instruction set, a scalable vector extension technology developed by ARM in collaboration with Fujitsu. SVE2 can dramatically improve performance in areas such as machine learning, digital signal processing, 5G, VR/AR, and more.
As for the overall performance improvement, ARM said that it will bring more than 30% performance improvement to Armv9-based CPUs by a series of optimization measures such as increasing frequency, bandwidth, cache size, and reducing memory latency.
For Huawei, which has obtained a permanent license for Armv8, whether it can obtain an Armv9 license was once a worrying question. Fortunately, ARM executives have made it clear that the Armv9 architecture is not subject to U.S. export controls, and Huawei is fully eligible for authorization. This will undoubtedly inject a shot in the arm for the stable development of Huawei's chip design team, which is conducive to the continuous upgrading and iteration of Kirin series chips in the future.
The Lingxi architecture has a bright future
In addition to striving for Armv9 licensing, Huawei has also not relaxed its efforts in chip independent research and development. In December 2021, Huawei released its self-developed "Lingxi" instruction set architecture, which is regarded as the highest level of Huawei's chip design.
The Lingxi architecture represents Huawei's years of experience in the field of chip design, which not only has strong performance, but also has the advantages of autonomy and control. According to reports, the Lingxi architecture plan will gradually replace the existing ARM architecture, and is expected to be applied to mobile phones, servers, artificial intelligence and other fields in the future. Industry insiders are also full of expectations for the prospect of the Lingxi architecture.
The transition from the ARM architecture to the fully autonomous Lingxi architecture will not happen overnight for Huawei. However, with the authorization of Armv9, the stability of Huawei's chip design team is guaranteed, paving the way for the gradual promotion of the Lingxi architecture. In the next few years, Huawei's chips may adopt both ARM and Lingxi architectures, and the continuous upgrade of the ARM architecture product line will also accelerate the implementation of Lingxi architecture products, and the two-legged strategy may run through the entire process of Huawei's chip development.
Break through the dilemma of being sanctioned
The long-term sanctions imposed by the United States on Huawei Technology Company have made Huawei face many obstacles in the chip manufacturing process. Due to the lack of advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, Huawei's high-end chip products can only rely on outsourcing foundries such as TSMC, which is also unable to provide services to Huawei due to US restrictions.
In addition to relying on the development of the domestic chip manufacturing industry, obtaining ARM's Armv9 architecture license is also an important step. With the significant performance improvement brought by Armv9, Huawei is expected to return to the high-end chip market in the future to make up for the market gap caused by sanctions.
Huawei's self-developed Lingxi architecture will also help break through the sanctions dilemma. Once the Lingxi architecture products are gradually implemented, Huawei will have fully independent and controllable chip design capabilities, completely get rid of the dependence on the ARM architecture, and truly realize independent and controllable chips. Although the road ahead is still full of thorns, with the help of these two powerful weapons, Huawei will eventually hope to reverse the passive situation in the field of chips.
ARM's Armv9 architecture marks a major breakthrough in chip technology, which not only greatly enhances performance, security, and AI capabilities, but also supports the development of 300 billion chips in the future. For Huawei, which has always relied on the ARM architecture, obtaining the Armv9 license is undoubtedly a major benefit, which will help stabilize the chip design team and pave the way for the upgrading of the Kirin series chips.
Huawei's self-developed Lingxi architecture will also be the focus of future development, and this new instruction set architecture represents the highest level of Huawei's chip design, and the prospects are very broad. Huawei may promote the upgrade of the ARM architecture product line and the implementation of the Lingxi architecture products at the same time, and the two-legged strategy runs throughout.
More importantly, whether it is Armv9 or Lingxi architecture, it will help Huawei finally break through the dilemma of being sanctioned by the United States, return to the high-end chip market, and realize independent and controllable chips. Although there are many challenges, as long as Huawei insists on independent innovation, Huawei will definitely find its own development path in the field of chips.