Synopsys Looks To Remove Oldest ARC CPU Support From The Linux Kernel

[phoronix]

Phoronix: Synopsys Looks To Remove Oldest ARC CPU Support From The Linux Kernel

Synopsys is looking to phase out support for the oldest ARC processors found within the mainline Linux kernel...

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=ARC750-Drop-Linux-Patches

[uid313]

They might as well drop all of the ARC code now that RISC-V is here.
Synopsys ought to consider making RISC-V processors and strive to become a leading RISC-V manufacturer instead of waiting until the ARC market share gets eaten up by RISC-V.

[tildearrow]

I just literally searched for ARC750. Absolutely zero related results.
In fact, Phoronix is the second result. Wow.

Also, a quick search for ARC architecture only brings up 4-5 results (this article included!). Just shows how obscure the architecture is today...

[numacross]

I just literally searched for ARC750. Absolutely zero related results.
In fact, Phoronix is the second result. Wow.

Also, a quick search for ARC architecture only brings up 4-5 results (this article included!). Just shows how obscure the architecture is today...

Up until Skylake (11.x) Intel Management Engine was implemented on this architecture. That's quite many computers running it world-wide

[MadeUpName]

I just literally searched for ARC750. Absolutely zero related results.
In fact, Phoronix is the second result. Wow.

Also, a quick search for ARC architecture only brings up 4-5 results (this article included!). Just shows how obscure the architecture is today...

Yup. I did a search because I was curious as I had never even heard of ARC. You know your obscure when even Google has never heard of you.

[Teggs]

Up until Skylake (11.x) Intel Management Engine was implemented on this architecture. That's quite many computers running it world-wide

Security through obscurity.

[ServerGarbage]

Yup. I did a search because I was curious as I had never even heard of ARC. You know your obscure when even Google has never heard of you.

Is this a call for reverse engineering?

[tildearrow]

Yup. I did a search because I was curious as I had never even heard of ARC. You know your obscure when even Google has never heard of you.

I did not use the monster Google search engine. I used DuckDuckGo.
An accidental search of my username brings up one of my projects.

[timofonic]

Did you know SuperFX was the ARC predecessor?

ARC International was acquired by Synopsys in 2010.

The roots of ARC International date back to the early 1990s. The company was founded by Jez San and Rick Clucas to build upon the 3D accelerator technology previously developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by a division of Argonaut Software. This forerunner to the ARC was originally called the Mario (Mathematical, Argonaut, Rotation & I/O) chip and later dubbed the Super FX. It went on to sell millions, at the time outselling ARM or any other RISC core.^[21][22]

Following the success of the Super FX, its designers were split from the main company into a subsidiary called Multi Media Technologies Ltd (MMT). They created a new 32-bit design that would later be called ARC and marketed as the first general-purpose configurable microprocessor. Later, MMT was acquired by Argonaut Software and eventually turned into a new company called Argonaut Technologies Ltd (ATL) which was spun off as a separate company which eventually became ARC International. In 1995 Bob Terwilliger took over as ARC's first CEO. He created the company licensing strategy, commercialized the product including the acquisition of Metaware, VAutomation and Precise Software. He raised $50 million pre-IPO and took the company public in September 2000, raising an additional $250 million.

[MadeUpName]

I did not use the monster Google search engine. I used DuckDuckGo.
An accidental search of my username brings up one of my projects.

DuckDuckGo like almost all search engines just scraped data from Google. Even Russias Yandex does that.