Qualcomm sends first samples of 24-core ARM soc for servers

Qualcomm has started shipping servers equipped with a 64-bit ARM soc with 24 cores. It is still a pre-production version of the soc; the final version will get more cores.

In late 2014, Qualcomm announced that it was in the works for server processors based on ARM cores. The processor manufacturer says that it has now made significant progress and has demonstrated a Linux server that uses a soc with 24 ‘custom’ cores, based on the 64-bit ARMv8-A architecture. The chip is baked on a FinFet process, precise specifications have not yet been released.

With its ARM soc for servers, Qualcomm targets large data centers that use many small individual nodes and are therefore easily scalable. According to the manufacturer, the chip is suitable for common server tasks. Samples from the server with a pre-production version of the soc are now sent to major customers.

The final version of the ARM soc for servers will have more cores, Qualcomm chief executive Anand Chandrasekher confirmed during a presentation attended by Computerworld. It is not yet known when the soc will appear on the market. The manufacturer will announce more about this next year, according to Chandrasekher.

Qualcomm also announces two new partnerships. Mellanox, which makes network cards, is one of the new partners. In addition, Xilinx will make acceleration maps with the ARM soc.