Technical resources for DesignStart Pro

DesignStart Pro is the fastest, most affordable way to access a select mix of Arm IP for commercial custom SoC or ASIC design. With a simplified contract, success-based royalties and design support, engineers can design confidently and accelerate time to market.

Start developing your custom SoC with access to the industry-leading Arm Cortex-M0, Cortex-M3 and Cortex-A5 processors:

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Processor IP

Cortex-M0 processor

Cortex-M3 processor

Cortex-A5 processor
The smallest Arm processor available, enabling developers to achieve 32-bit performance at an 8-bit price point, bypassing the step to 16-bit devices.
 Industry-leading 32-bit processor for deterministic, real-time applications, specifically developed for high-performance, low-cost platforms.
 The smallest, lowest power Armv7 application processor, with Linux-capable processing for IoT and embedded applications.
  • No upfront license fee.
  • Success-based royalty model.
  • No upfront license fee.
  • Success-based royalty model.
  • $75k access fee with 1 year design support OR $150k access fee with 3 years' design support.
  • $50k tape-out fee, plus a success-based royalty model.
  • Minimal code footprint of the processor.
  • Exceptionally small silicon area.
  • Lowest power for the most constrained applications.
  • Outstanding computational performance.
  • Exceptional system response to events.
  • Highly configurable, enabling a wide range of implementations.
  • Rich OS support and advanced features such as MMU and DSP instructions.
  • Configurable and scalable to meet performance, power and area needs.

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Training and Support

Arm offers a range of training, support and documentation for companies looking to commercialise with DesignStart.

Training

Arm offers expert training for DesignStart products, created by Arm Engineers and starting at $99.


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RTL Review

We offer an RTL review for DesignStart customers, to help verify your SoC design and reduce risk before tape out.


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Technical Support

Already registered for DesignStart and looking for advanced, personalized support? Arm offer a paid-for service where you can get fast answers on any issue from our team of highly qualified in-house experts. Ask a question 24/7 by web or email and track its status with our online case-tracking tool.

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Not registered? Instantly access information and support from Arm experts, ecosystem partners and other DesignStart designers via the DesignStart Community.

Useful documentation and resources

Type Title
Documentation Designing a SoC with an Arm Cortex-M Processor
Documentation Armv7-M Architecture Reference Manual
Video Arm DesignStart for custom silicon
Webinar Upgrade to a custom ASIC
Blog Designing a custom SoC: 9 next steps after downloading your Arm IP
Blog Cortex-M resources
Blog A look inside the Cortex-A5 CPU, available through DesignStart
White paper An era of affordability for the Custom System-on-Chip (SoC)
Case study Evolving intelligent devices for immersive experiences
Case study From concept to tape-out in 6 months using DesignStart
Case study Start-up uses Arm DesignStart Pro to create proof of concept, secures $16m in funding
Web page Embedded development tools for Cortex-M series

Related IP and Tools

The Cortex-M0, Cortex-M3 and Cortex-A5 processor can be incorporated into an SoC using a broad range of Arm technology through DesignStart.

Cortex-M0 Cortex-M3 Cortex-A5
Cortex-M System Design Kit Corstone foundation IP Arm Socrates System Builder
90-day trial of Arm MDK Professional 90-day trial of Arm MDK Professional Neon technology
Arm Artisan physical IP Mbed OS support for Cortex-M3 Neural Network inference engine (Arm NN)
Arm Artisan physical IP Linux-based support
    Arm Artisan physical IP

 

Arm Flexible Access

If you would like to evaluate and design solutions with a broader range of Arm IP, learn more about Arm Flexible Access.

Arm Flexible Access offers the freedom to explore and design with a wide-ranging package of Arm IP, tools and services - with licensing due only when your SoC design is ready and committed for manufacture.

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