https://interconnected.blog/romance-of-three-kingdoms-semiconductor-x86-arm-riscv-intel/ Interconnected * About * Top Analysis * YouTube * Popular Topics Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Semiconductor Edition * * * Subscribe Topics: RISC-V * Intel * Arm * Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Semiconductor Edition * Kevin Xu Kevin Xu Author and founder of Interconnected. See "About Interconnected" for more information. More posts by Kevin Xu. Kevin Xu Kevin Xu 14 Feb 2022 English Zhong Wen Three months after Softbank announced its acquisition of Arm in 2016, Masa Son (founder and CEO of Softbank) invited Jensen Huang (founder and CEO of Nvidia) for dinner at his California mansion. Just the two of them. Among the many things they talked about at this "dinner date", chronicled in Aiming High (a biography of Masa originally published in Japanese), Masa eagerly shared with Jensen his desire to merge Arm and Nvidia someday. Masa had wanted to buy Arm long before 2016. But Masa had wanted to own a big chunk of Nvidia even more. Fast forward to September 2020, when Nvidia announced its plan to acquire Arm, the deal was mostly in Nvidia shares, not cash, exactly how Masa would have liked it. In his own words, Masa described the deal as "a purchase kind of sale, a sale kind of purchase." Had the Nvidia-Arm "marriage" been approved, Softbank would have become the largest shareholder of Nvidia. Masa Son would have completed his master plan that was at least four years in the making. Of course, that all fell apart last week. The failed Nvidia-Arm acquisition has been heavily reported already, so I won't repeat the main facts here. What was noteworthy was that the most fierce antitrust challenge of this deal came from US regulators, with heavy support from many big tech companies all fearing a monopoly of chip design IP under Nvidia. When the deal was first announced last year, I was anticipating Chinese regulators to torpedo the deal, using Arm's embattled China division as leverage. As it turns out, the Chinese regulators didn't even get their turn. What was even more noteworthy, but buried under all the Nvidia-Arm headlines, was Intel making moves to get closer to RISC-V, the open source ISA (instruction-set architecture) that aims to become an alternative to Arm. With Nvidia and Arm breaking up, while Intel's courtship of RISC-V begins, what's ahead are new technologies, new alliances, new conflicts, and new battles - "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" style, except among semiconductor ISAs, not warring dynasties of ancient China. [-SmiRIWIf4] New Romance: Intel loves RISC-V On the same day that Nvidia officially called off its Arm acquisition last week, Intel made two announcements: a new $1 billion dollar fund for startups building in an open ecosystem of semiconductor IPs, and joining the RISC-V International foundation as a Premier Member. This coincidence in timing was a bit unfortunate for Intel, because its pair of announcements should have received much more attention. Instead, most mainstream business media covered the Nvidia-Arm breakup, without mentioning Intel's latest moves, even though what Intel is doing is highly relevant to the post-Nvidia-Arm world. Intel, as the proprietor of the closed-source x86 ISA, supporting RISC-V is on the same industry-shifting scale as Microsoft's eventual embrace of Linux. As all layers of technology get eaten by open source solutions, traditional tech giants who initially rose to prominence using a proprietary model simply must adapt. Intel is the latest example. The Intel-RISC-V alliance likely would have happened whether the Nvidia-Arm acquisition succeeded or not, because of the age-old adage: "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Arm is a huge threat to Intel - gaining market share in both laptop CPUs (see Apple's M1 chip) and cloud computing servers (see AWS's Graviton processor). Laptops and cloud servers, being less sensitive to power consumption than smartphones, have traditionally been dominated by x86-based CPUs. Not any more. RISC-V, being open sourced, is a threat to every proprietary ISA, but less to Intel's x86, more to Arm. That's because both Arm and RISC-V are based on the RISC family of chip architectures, thus can address more overlapping use cases. (See more of our writings on RISC-V here. ) The enemy (RISC-V) of my enemy (Arm) is my (Intel) friend. It's hard to know whether a $1 billion fund is enough to jumpstart a RISC-V anchored ecosystem that can rival Arm. It may sound like a lot, but the break-up fee that Softbank will collect from Nvidia from the failed acquisition is $1.25 billion. What is more valuable than the $1 billion is Intel's public commitment to RISC-V - giving confidence to users of a still-young project that it has the backing of an industry stalwart. Intel's membership also has two implications - one technical, one geopolitical. The technical implication lies in a new concept Intel is touting with its foundry service: "open chiplet". In plain terms, "open chiplet" is an alternative to "system on a chip" (SoC). SoC is a highly integrated way of packing all (or most) of a computer processor (CPU or GPU) onto a chip using one architecture. It is the industry standard right now. "Open chiplet" will be a modularized platform that allows semiconductor products to leverage multiple architectures at once, be it x86, Arm, or RISC-V. It is a classic open source way of doing things, embracing modularity and compatibility. Intel is no longer "x86 way or the highway"; it is trying to stay competitive and ahead of the curve by being an open chip design IP platform, as long as its foundry gets to manufacture the chips. The geopolitical implication is evident if you do a before-and-after comparison of RISC-V International Foundation's membership page. Prior to Intel's logo being displayed in the "Premier Members" section, the page was dominated by big Chinese tech companies and Taiwanese companies like Andes (the only publicly listed RISC-V company, now an Intel partner). American semiconductor companies were nowhere to be seen. Intel's entrance finally changes that "balance of power", and may signal American industry's growing embrace of open source technology - a direction I advocated for last year in Wired magazine. Subscribe to Interconnected [YWWuXbiI9G] Three (ISA) Kingdoms: x86, Arm, RISC-V Intel's support of RISC-V does not guarantee its success. As I've written before, RISC-V has a long way to go to build a vibrant software developer ecosystem, especially in the compiler layer. (The gold standard of such a developer ecosystem is Nvidia's CUDA.) But with Arm decidedly weaker, now that it has to survive and thrive on its own without Nvidia's ownership, the stage is set for a "three kingdoms" deadlock of ISAs: x86, Arm, RISC-V. Each architecture's ecosystem has intertwining interests with the other two, with both reasons to cooperate and reasons to compete. In the ancient China version, the "three kingdoms" deadlock lasted about 35 years (229 AD - 263 AD) before one conquered the other two, eventually resulting in a "winner take all" ending. Of course, that was a war over power, territory, and dynastic legitimacy. There is no antitrust regulators in war. I don't see a "winner take all" ending happening among the three ISAs, whether it's 35 years or 350 years. Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Semiconductor Edition is here to stay. <> Ban Dao Ti Ban 2016Nian Ruan Yin Xuan Bu Shou Gou ArmDe San Ge Yue Zhi Hou ,Sun Zheng Yi (Ruan Yin Chuang Shi Ren Jian CEO)Yao Qing Huang Ren Xun (NvidiaChuang Shi Ren Jian CEO)Zai Ta De Jia Zhou Hao Zhai Gong Jin Wan Can . Jiu Ta Men Liang Ge Ren . Gong Jin Wan Can Shi ,Ta Men Chang Tan Liao Hen Duo Shi Qing . Qi Zhong Yi Jian Shi Qing ,Zai <> (Yi Ben Ri Wen Yuan Wen Xie Sun Zheng Yi De Chuan Ji )Zhe Ben Shu Zhong Ji Lu Liao Xia Lai ,Jiu Shi Sun Zheng Yi Yu Huang Ren Xun Fen Xiang Xi Wang You Yi Tian Jiang ArmHe NvidiaHe Bing De Yuan Wang . Zao Zai 2016Nian Zhi Qian ,Sun Zheng Yi Jiu Xiang Shou Gou Arm. Dan Sun Zheng Yi Geng Xiang De Dao De Shi Yi Da Kuai NvidiaZhe Ge Da Dan Gao . Kuai Jin Dao 2020Nian 9Yue ,Dang NvidiaXuan Bu Qi Shou Gou ArmDe Ji Hua Shi ,Jiao Yi Zhu Yao Cheng Fen Shi Nvidia De Gu Piao ,Bu Shi Xian Jin ,Zhe Zheng Shi Sun Zheng Yi Suo Xi Wang De . Yong Ta Zi Ji De Hua Shuo ,Sun Zheng Yi Ba Zhe Yi Shou Gou Miao Shu Wei "Yi Chong Gou Mai De Xiao Shou ,Yi Chong Xiao Shou De Gou Mai ". Ru Guo Nvidia-ArmDe "Hun Yin " Bei Pi Zhun Liao ,Ruan Yin Jiang Cheng Wei NvidiaDe Zui Da Gu Dong . Sun Zheng Yi Ce Hua Zhi Shao Si Nian De Suan Pan Jiu Hui Ru Yuan Shi Xian . Dang Ran ,Zhe Yi Qie Zai Shang Zhou Du Huang Liao . NvidiaShou Gou ArmDe Shi Bai Yi Jing Bei Da Liang Bao Dao ,Suo Yi Wo Jiu Bu Zai Zhe Li Zhong Fu Zheng Ge Shi Jian De Xi Jie Liao . Zhi De Yi Ti De Shi ,Zui Fan Dui Zhe Bi Jiao Yi De Fan Long Duan Jian Guan Ji Gou Lai Zi Mei Guo (FTC),Xu Duo Da Ke Ji Gong Si Ye Du Da Li Zhi Chi Jian Guan ,Shen Pa NvidiaLong Duan Xin Pian She Ji De IP. Dang Qu Nian Ci Shou Gou Shou Ci Bei Xuan Bu Shi ,Wo Ceng Yu Ce Zhong Guo Jian Guan Ji Gou Hui Li Yong ArmXian Ru Kun Jing De Zhong Guo Bu Men Zuo Wei Chou Ma ,Jiao Huang Ci Jiao Yi . Jie Guo Huan Mei Lun Dao Zhong Guo Jian Guan Ji Gou Can Yu Jiu Huang Liao . Tong Yang Geng Zhi De Zhu Yi De Shi ,Dan Bei Mai Mei Zai Suo You Nvidia-ArmTou Tiao Xia De Ying Te Er Kao Jin RISC-V De Ju Dong . RISC-VShi Yi Kuan Kai Yuan De Ban Dao Ti ISA(Zhi Ling Ji Jia Gou ),Zhi Zai You Zhao Yi Ri Ti Dai Arm. Sui Zhao NvidiaHe ArmDe "Fen Shou ",Yi Ji Ying Te Er "Zhui "RISC-VDe Kai Shi ,Wei Lai Hui You Hen Duo Xin De Ji Zhu , Xin De Lian Meng , Xin De Chong Tu He Xin De Zhan Dou - Hao Bi <> ,Zhi Bu Guo Shi Zai San Chong Bu Tong De Ban Dao Ti ISAZhi Jian ,Er Bu Shi Cao Cao ,Sun Quan He Liu Bei . [mrK2Xvt9AW] Xin Lian Qing :Ying Te Er Ai RISC-V Zai Shang Zhou NvidiaXuan Bu Zheng Shi Qu Xiao Dui ArmDe Shou Gou De Tong Yi Tian ,Ying Te Er Fa Bu Liao Liang Tiao Xiao Xi :Yi Tiao Shi Xin De 10Yi Mei Yuan De Tou Zi Ji Jin ,Yong Yu Zhi Chi Kai Fang Shi Ban Dao Ti IPSheng Tai Zhong De Chuang Ye Gong Si , Yi Tiao Shi Jia Ru RISC-VGuo Ji Ji Jin Hui ,Cheng Wei Shou Xi Hui Yuan . Guan Xuan Shi Jian Shang De Qiao He Dui Ying Te Er Lai Shuo Shi Shu Bu Xing ,Yin Wei Ta De Zhe Liang Tiao Xiao Xi Ben Ying De Dao Geng Duo De Guan Zhu . Xiang Fan ,Da Duo Shu Zhu Liu Shang Ye Mei Ti Du Bao Dao Liao Nvidia-ArmDe Fen Shou ,Er Mei You Ti Ji Ying Te Er De Zui Xin Ju Cuo ,Jin Guan Ying Te Er De Ju Dong Yu Nvidia-ArmJie Meng Shi Bai Zhi Hou De Shi Jie Gao Du Xiang Guan . Ying Te Er ,Zuo Wei Bi Yuan x86 ISADe Suo You Zhe ,Zhi Chi RISC-VYi Shi Yu Wei Ruan Zui Zhong Yong Bao LinuxKe Yi Shuo Shi Tong Yi Ji Bie De Xing Ye Da Shi . Sui Zhao Ge Ceng Ke Ji Du Bei Kai Yuan Fang An Zhu Jian Suo Tun Shi ,Zui Chu Yi Bi Yuan Zhuan You Mo Shi Jue Qi De Chuan Tong Ke Ji Ju Tou Men Bi Xu Gua Ying . Ying Te Er Shi Zui Xin De Li Zi . Wu Lun Nvidia-ArmDe Shou Gou Shi Fou Cheng Gong ,Ying Te Er Yu RISC-VDe Lian Meng Ying Gai Du Hui Fa Sheng . Yuan Yin Jiu Shi Yi Ju Lao Hua :"Di Ren De Di Ren Jiu Shi Wo De Peng You ". ArmDui Ying Te Er Shi Yi Ge Ju Da De Wei Xie - Zai Bi Ji Ben CPU(Jian Ping Guo De M1Xin Pian )He Yun Ji Suan Fu Wu Qi (Jian AWSDe GravitonChu Li Qi )Fang Mian De Shi Chang Fen E Du Zai Zeng Chang . Bi Ji Ben CPUHe Yun Ji Suan Fu Wu Qi ,You Yu Dui Gong Hao Mei You Zhi Neng Shou Ji Na Yao Min Gan ,Chuan Tong Shang Yi Zhi You Ji Yu X86De CPUZhu Dao . Xian Zai Bu Shi Liao . RISC-VShi Kai Yuan De ,Suo Yi Dui Mei Yi Chong Bi Yuan Zhuan You De ISADu Shi Wei Xie ,Dan Dui Ying Te Er De x86Wei Xie Jiao Xiao ,Dui ArmWei Xie Geng Da . Zhe Shi Yin Wei ArmHe RISC-VDu Shi Ji Yu RISCXi Lie De Xin Pian Jia Gou ,Yin Ci Ke Yi Jie Jue Geng Duo Zhong Die De Yong Li . (Qing Kan <> Guan Yu RISC-VDe Geng Duo Wen Zhang . ) Wo De Di Ren (Arm)De Di Ren (RISC-V)Jiu Shi Wo De (Ying Te Er )Peng You . Hen Nan Yu Ce 10Yi Mei Yuan De Tou Zi Shi Fou Zu Yi Qi Dong Yi Ge Neng Gou Yu ArmKang Heng De Yi RISC-VWei Ji Chu De Sheng Tai . Ting Qi Lai Hen Duo ,Dan Ruan Yin Jiang Cong Shou Gou Shi Bai De NvidiaNa Li Shou Qu De Fen Shou Fei Ze Shi 12.5 Yi Mei Yuan . Bi 10Yi Mei Yuan Geng You Jie Zhi De Shi Ying Te Er Dui RISC-VDe Gong Kai Cheng Nuo - Gei Yi Ge Reng Ran Nian Qing De Xiang Mu De Yong Hu Zu Gou Xin Xin ,Zuo Wei RISC-VBei Hou Jian Shi De Hou Dun . Ying Te Er Cheng Wei RISC-VGuo Ji Ji Jin Hui Zui Gao Ji Cheng Yuan Zi Ge Ye You Liang Ge Han Yi - Yi Ge Shi Ji Zhu De ,Yi Ge Shi Di Yuan Guan Xi De . Ji Zhu Shang De Ying Xiang Lai Zi Yu Ying Te Er Tong Guo Qi Xin Pian Dai Gong Fu Wu Dou Shou De Yi Ge Xin Gai Nian ,"Kai Fang Xin Pian ". Tong Su Di Shuo ,"Kai Fang Xin Pian ,open chiplet" Shi "system on a chip"(SoC)De Ti Dai Ban . SoCShi Yi Chong Gao Du Ji Cheng De Fang Shi ,Yong Yi Chong Jia Gou Jiang Suo You (Huo Da Bu Fen )Ji Suan Ji Chu Li Qi (CPUHuo GPU)Da Bao Dao Yi Ge Xin Pian Shang . Ta Shi Mu Qian De Gong Ye Biao Zhun . "Kai Fang Xin Pian " Xiang Da Dao De Shi Mo Kuai Hua ,Yun Xu Ban Dao Ti Chan Pin Tong Shi Ke Yi Li Yong Duo Chong Jia Gou ,Wu Lun Shi x86, ArmHuan Shi RISC-V. Zhe Shi Yi Chong Jing Dian De "Kai Yuan "Wan Fa ,Yong Bao Mo Kuai Hua He Jian Rong Xing . Ying Te Er Bu Zai Si Shou x86Liao ,Er Shi Tong Guo Cheng Wei Yi Ge Kai Fang De Xin Pian She Ji IPPing Tai Lai Bao Chi Jing Zheng Li He Ling Xian Xing ,Zhi Yao Qi Dai Gong Han Neng Na Dao Cheng Chan Zhe Xie Xin Pian De Dan Zi . Di Yuan Guan Xi De Ying Xiang Zhi Yao Zai Ying Te Er Jia Ru De Qian Hou Bi Jiao Yi Xia RISC-VGuo Ji Ji Jin Hui De Hui Yuan Wang Ye Jiu Qing Chu Liao . Zai Ying Te Er De Biao Zhi Xian Shi Zai "Gao Ji Hui Yuan " Bu Fen Zhi Qian ,Ye Mian Zhu Yao Shi Bei Zhong Guo Ke Ji Da Han He Tai Wan Gong Si Ru Andes(Wei Yi Shang Shi De RISC-VGong Si ,Xian Zai Shi Ying Te Er De He Zuo Huo Ban )Suo Zhan Ju . Mei Guo De Ban Dao Ti Gong Si Ze Bu Jian Zong Ying . Ying Te Er De Jia Ru Zui Zhong Gai Bian Liao Zhe Chong "Shi Li Ping Heng ",Bing Ke Neng Biao Zhi Zhao Mei Guo Gong Ye Jie Dui Kai Yuan Ji Zhu De Ri Yi Yong Hu - Zhe Ye Shi Wo Qu Nian Zai <> Za Zhi Shang Chang Dao De Fang Xiang . [sC38U2VE5X] ISASan Guo :x86, Arm, RISC-V Ying Te Er Dui RISC-VDe Zhi Chi Bing Bu Neng Bao Zheng Qi Cheng Gong . Zheng Ru Wo Yi Qian Xie Dao De ,RISC-VYao Da Jian Chu Yi Ge Chong Man Huo Li De Ruan Jian Kai Fa Zhe Sheng Tai Huan You Hen Chang De Lu Yao Zou ,Te Bie Shi Zai Bian Yi Qi Zhe Yi Ceng . (Zhe Chong Kai Fa Zhe Sheng Tai De Biao Gan Jiu Shi NvidiaDe CUDA. ) Dan Shi ,You Yu ArmDe Ming Xian Xiao Ruo ,Yin Wei Shi Qu Liao NvidiaZhe Ge Da Kao Shan Er Bi Xu Du Li Sheng Cun He Fa Zhan Xia Qu ,"San Zu Ding Li "De Da Ju Yi Ding :x86, Arm, RISC-V. Mei Chong Jia Gou De Sheng Tai Du Yu Qi Ta Liang Chong Li Yi Jiao Zhi ,Ji You He Zuo De Li You ,Ye You Jing Zheng De Li You . Zai <> Li ,"San Zu Ding Li " De Jiang Ju Chi Xu Liao Da Yue 35Nian (Gong Yuan 229Nian Zhi Gong Yuan 263 Nian ),Zui Zhong Shi Xi Jin Tong Yi , "Ying Jia Tong Chi ". Dang Ran ,Na Shi Zheng Duo Quan Li ,Ling Tu He Huang Wei De Zhan Zheng . Zhan Zheng Zhong Mei You Fan Long Duan Jian Guan Ji Gou . Wo Bu Ren Wei "Ying Jia Tong Chi " De Jie Ju Hui Fa Sheng Zai "ISASan Guo " Zhi Jian ,Wu Lun Shi 35Nian Huan Shi 350 Nian . <> De Ban Dao Ti Ban Jiang Hui Chang Qi Chi Xu Xia Qu . Ru Guo Nin Xi Huan Suo Du De Nei Rong ,Qing Yong emailDing Yue Jia Ru "Hu Lian ". Yao Xiang Du Yi Qian De Wen Zhang ,Qing Cha Yue <> . Mei Zhou Yi Pian Xin Wen Zhang Song Da Nin De You Xiang . Qing Zai Twitter, LinkedIn, Clubhouse(@kevinsxu)Shang Gei Ge follow,He Wo Jiao Liu Hu Dong ! Subscribe to Interconnected To get all the deep dive posts and other future premium content [ ] Subscribe Great! Check your inbox and click the link to confirm your subscription. Please enter a valid email address! 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