Arm's Next Chip Design to Support Virtualization

From PC World: Arm Holdings will soon release a new processor design that can run virtualization software, a development that could help expand the use of Arm-based chips in low-powered servers, the company announced Monday.

The virtualization capabilities will be introduced with the next version of Arm's Cortex A processor, code-named Eagle, which is "very, very close" to being released, said David Brash, a member of Arm's architecture group, in a presentation at the Hot Chips conference at Stanford, California.

Several companies are already developing hypervisor software for the new chip design, including VMware, the market leader in server virtualization, and other vendors that make hypervisors for mobile and embedded use, according to a slide that Brash showed during his presentation.

Virtualization allows software to run separately from its underlying hardware, allowing several operating environments to be run simultaneously on one computer, each in its own virtual machine. The technology has existed for a long time on mainframes and recently became popular for consolidating workloads on x86-based servers.

Arm chips are known for their low power consumption and are widely used in cell phones -- including Apple's iPhone -- and other embedded devices. Arm doesn't manufacture the chips itself; rather, it designs them and sells the architectures to chip makers like Texas Instruments.

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