IBM is broadening its Power architecture licensing program to include a multi-use agreement that provides developers access to the entire lineup of Power cores with a single license. This is the first time such an option has been available for Power systems developers. Designers can now gain access to a blanket license for unlimited uses of the Power 470, Power 460 and Power 405 cores for a 5-year period. IBM also announced a new "no-barriers" license for the Power 405 core which drops the standard access fee.
Simpler access to Power technology will allow designers to more easily create embedded solutions on a powerful, well established microprocessor architecture that is currently at the heart of range of applications, from supercomputing and games to networking and storage.
The Power Architecture is designed to enable use of the Power core for a variety of products across the rapidly growing smart-compute application landscape including embedded intelligence for machine-to-machine communication and intelligent infrastructure for handling the vast amounts of data generated from billions of connected devices.
Power cores are based on the same technology found in IBM POWER-7 based computers, such as Watson, the question-answering system that won the Jeopardy! game show, and IBM's Blue Gene line of supercomputers.
"As the world becomes increasingly digitized and connected, the role of embedded processors is expected to grow," said Elmer Corbin, director, IBM Microelectronics. "IBM continues to innovate with its Power architecture, targeting new applications that will drive a wide variety of solutions for a smarter connected planet as well as enabling applications in high growth economies, as demonstrated by our work with partners such as C*Core and Verisilicon."
Dozens of companies worldwide develop technology and products for the Power architecture, through an alliance known as Power.org. For more information on Power.org, go to www.power.org/home. For more information on IBM custom Power processors, go to www-03.ibm.com/technology/processors/index.html.