With the end of October around the corner, my children are frantically thinking about what they want to dress up as for Halloween. It is interesting that both of them chose a costume that has something to do with a mobile video game. My daughter will be dressing up as a red angry bird while my son wants to go as a wizard, where he is using clash of clans as the example of what a wizard should look like.
The impact of mobile devices is quite profound and goes deeper than we really imagine. From picking a restaurant based on Yelp ratings, comparing online prices of a product while you are in a store, navigating to your next meeting appointment…to picking a costume for Halloween. The mobile revolution really has taken the world by storm.
Although we are hard pressed to remember a time when we didn’t run around with a smartphone, these devices only surfaced a couple of years ago—and even then it was really an early-adopter device. Smartphones are the prime example of the power of well-synchronized hardware and software.
ARM, one of the key IP companies driving the mobile revolution, has fully realized the importance of software and software enablement. In 2010 it co-founded Linaro, and in Linaro’s own words, this is the place where engineers from the world’s leading technology companies define the future of Linux on ARM. And ARM is making sure there are transaction-level models available for all of its processors and the system IP relevant to the software. It is these models that play an important part in Synopsys VDKs (Virtualizer Development Kits) for mobile designs. Virtual prototypes built on the aggregation of Fast Models from ARM, Synopsys’ DesignWare Interface IP models, third-party IP vendor models, and mobile semiconductor IP models.
These are the tools enabling early software development and fueling the continuous stream of innovations in the mobile market. With ARM TechCon (ARM’s technology conference hosted in Silicon Valley, California) coming up around the same time as Halloween, it is interesting to realize how my family life and my job related activities have found some sort of synergy. It is great to see the overall positive impact that the mobile revolution is having on each of us. While virtual prototyping is only one part of the entire enablement chain, it is exactly that which made the current boom of mobile electronics possible—an entire chain of companies working together to deliver something that is bigger than its parts. It’s an example of true synergy between hardware components and software stacks. Apparently this has even influenced the choice of my children’s Halloween costumes.
Visit Synopsys at ARM TechCon, booth #612 on Oct. 30, from 10:00am – 7:15pm and October 31, from 10:00am – 4:00pm.
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