From Bits to Billions Enabling the Digital Revolution

1. From Bits to BillionsEnabling the Digital Revolution -or - How to retire in less than a decade

2. Digital Revolution • We live in a time where a great deal of the information or data we receive has been created, stored, transmitted, encrypted or manipulated digitally ... • Why? • computation, especially compression, is relatively easy on digital data using a computer • MP3 music, JPG pictures, MPG et al movies • voice calls, maps, GPS, networking, storage • What is doing that computation? • in the vast majority of cases ... an ARM processor

3. ARM • A small, but powerful, microprocessor • able to run for many hours off a battery • Practically every cellphone • the majority of digital cameras • and MP3 players • and GPS units • and printers • and disk drives • and networking gear • and BlueTooth, and Smart Cards, and Cars & ...

4. Papal Inauguration 2005

5. Papal Inauguration 2013

6. Dave Jaggar • Graduated from Canterbury in 1991 • Year 11 Applied Maths teacher said I'd never be an engineer • BSc & MSc in Computer Science • Master's Thesis studied the ARM processor before it was well known • Hint: and I studied a lots of old 'forgotten' stuff ... • MSc Thesis marked by Professor Doran here in Auckland • I did all the Computer Science papers Canterbury offered • Hint : a fairly broad background • ARM employee number 17 • Senior Software Engineer in 1991 and half of 1992 • rewrote the ARM simulator from my thesis • Head of Technical Marketing & Architecture Committee • Architected most ARM products from 1992 to 2000 • Head of ARM Austin 1996 to 2000 • High performance CPU team • Retired in 2000 (mostly ... ) • Hint: get in at (or near) the ground floor of a startup

7. Gearing • Before technology is successful, its often fairly dull • Google ... just another search engine • Facebook ... online register of Harvard students faces • YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Amazon, EBay ... • Apple App store • 75 billion downloads ... revenue soon to exceed iTunes • Bottled Water • US$195B in 2018 • Hint: the next big thing probably sounds pretty dull today • ARM's Business Model • design a processor once • license it hundreds of times • for a few million dollars each time • licensees sell hundreds of millions of processors • and pay ARM a small royalty • on average everyone on the planet has bought about 7 ARM processors • ARM's Market Cap is somewhere over US$20 billion • Lesson: a small number times the world population is a large number

8. Shipments

9. ARM Startup • ARM started with 12 engineers from Acorn in 1991 • mostly Cambridge graduates, smart guys, but relatively "narrow" • and UK£1.5 millon (US$2.5million) from Apple • Apple wanted ARM6 for its Newton project • Added about 10 staff per year for 3 years • as our major outgoing was in salaries, we stayed quite small • borrowed legal, finance, marketing people from elsewhere ... • Spending any money needed justification • spending £10K needed one A4 page of justification (approx 600 words) • so spending £100 needed 6 words of justification ☺ • limited administration overhead (one office manager) • no company credit cards • limited company perks • economy class air fares for everyone • Hint : Cash is king for a startup, so run lean and mean until your income is sure and steady, and then, Lesson: keep running lean and mean as it's part of your culture ...

10. ARM Barbecue 1991

11. ARM Company Motto • Robin Saxby • Invented the ARM 'Partnership' Business Model • Completely foresaw, and the created, ARM domination • "We'll Never Make or Sell Chips" • "Solutions not Problems" • "Every Problem is An Opportunity" • Work Hard But Have Fun • I worked very hard (60 hour weeks) • I had great fun most of the time • Hint: "The Harder I Worked, the Luckier I Became" Hint : Do What You Enjoy (that old chestnut) - And if you don't enjoy it, get on with it anyway, just to get it done - Lesson: If you aren't making mistakes, you're probably standing still

12. ARM Partners

13. The ARM7 Processor (1992) • The two original architects of the ARM processor didn't join the startup, and after a death in the company, I was the only person in the company that knew how the processor worked ... but really I had no clue ... • I was completely thrown in the deep-end • to this day I remember how scared I was, I really really had no clue • but, every problem is an opportunity • We needed a follow-on processor to the ARM6 • Before my input, ARM was just another chip for computers • Opportunity: redesign it to replace high volume, low cost, embedded processors • as dull as bottled water ...

14. ARM7 and ARM7DMI • First, a quick spin to fix some basic problems with ARM6 • Made it much faster with one simple change • This was the opportunity to give it a new name ("phew") • It wasn't fully backwards compatible with ARM6 • Huge uproar over 8 instructions from one of the original ARM architects • Hint: Watch out for politics (Lesson: I didn't, and I'm still useless at it) • Made it run at 3.3 volts (down from 5 volts) • Made it remember where it was up to after a reset • Filed some ("narrow") patents, quite specific, but easily defended • Then, two optional parts • Added a faster multiplier • essential for a lot of Digital Signal Processing • Added simple but powerful debug hardware • the chip wasn't being used in a computer with a keyboard & screen • so to debug code extra hardware was needed to see what was going on • Filed some decent patents that covered these parts of the chip well • Started showing it to customers • the response was good, but after they had evaluated it, they said "ARM programs are too big, you're blowing our memory budget"

15. Nippon Investment & Finance ('93) • Nippon Investment and Finance (part of Daiwa Securities) invested UK£650,000 in ARM • ARM did not need (or ever use) the money • ARM needed exposure in Asia • I knew (know) nothing about this stuff • Over dinner I asked one question "When will you sell your ARM shares?" • Answer "When the price hits the target we've set" • Hint: Share prices go up, until they go down, so decide upfront what profit you expect, otherwise you get sucked into greed

16. ARM7TDMI (1994) • Thumb, a second instruction set • More compact than the original one • designed halve the cost of the system memory • smaller code than the chips it was replacing • room for new features in a new product with no increase in cost • ARM instruction set still available for maximum performance at high cost • Smart politically ... relatively small change to the overall chip • Thumb, just a wee thing on the end of your ARM • Extremely well accepted by end customers • Motorola, Intel, MIPS etc too big, too slow to react • I had no idea how slowly big companies moved • It "rewrote the rulebook" on what embedded processing was • Two key ARM patents ("broad" ones at last) • Hint: Protect Your Intellectual Property in a variety of "breadths" • Lesson: many patent lawyers don't get this point until it's too late...

17. ARM changes gear (1994-1995) • I strap an airplane to my backside for a year • someone worked out my average speed was more than 300 km/h over a whole year … • Nokia, Ericsson, Alcatel, Qualcomm, Motorola(!) • Apple, Microsoft, Seagate, Maxtor, Cisco • TI, IBM, Oracle, Bell Labs • Epson, HP, Brother • Nintendo, Sega, Yamaha, Sony • Ford, GM, Toyota, Honda, Mercedes, Siemens • Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic, JVC, Fujitsu • NKK Steel, Eurofighter, and the NSA (I think)

18. Much Success

19. StrongARM ('94 & '95) • Digital Equipment Corp (DEC) ... • were the 3rd or 4th biggest computer company in the world • one team did Prism, Alpha & PPC (Somerset) • Prism cancelled because it wasn't part of DEC's mainstream VAX product line • So the engineers called the next CPU"Extended VAX" • fooling management that it was VAX like • Hint: it wasn't ... • Launched as DEC Alpha • 200MHz when every on else was around 66MHz • But too late to save DEC • Probably the best design team on the planet • and a pretty small team ... • and they wanted to build an ARM • Hint: there's always someone smarter than you

20. The ARM Architecture • For DEC I wrote the ARM Architecture Reference Manual so they actually knew what to build • ARM ARM, literally wrote the Rule Book • A couple of months on site in Austin, Texas in late 1994 • Got to know the team very well, sat in on design meetings, learnt a whole lot, and loved Austin • I didn't downplay Thumb, but I didn't talk it up either • old ARM was not well protected so they could do it anyway • They knew nothing about embedded design • PC/Workstation backgrounds • A little like Acorn, MIPS, SPARC, most of Intel etc • Lesson: "You've got two ears and one mouth, try to use them in that proportion"

21. Then Back In Cambridge (1995) • ARM8 was a complex resource hungry processor for Acorn • Acorn on the design team, paying the bills, 20 engineers from ARM • Not targeted at embedded (no Thumb, no Debug) • I quietly started new processor ARM8E • ARM8 family member in name only • About as much about ARM8 as Alpha was about VAX • i.e. none … just hiding it from the Acorn Board ... Lesson from VAX/Alpha • A direct rip off of the StrongARM datapath • fast ... • And a small team like StrongARM • hopefully fast to market too (Hint: It wasn't Lesson: Don't take you're eye off the ball) • Added Thumb and Debug • performance for the embedded market • ARM8E was launched as ARM9TDMI

22. ARM7TDMI and ARM9TDMI • ARM7x0 • a single combined instruction and data cache • or no cache at all, maybe just on chip SRAM • 3 stage pipeline (f,d,e) • very small die size • very low power • maybe 10 times faster than an 8 bitter • ARM9x0 • separate instruction and data caches (or memories) • single off chip bus • 5 stage pipeline (f,d,r,e,w) • about double the performance of ARM7x0 • and about double the power and die size • Together responsible for 90% to 95% of ARMs shipped to date

23. ARM10/StrongARM2 (1996) • Joint Development between ARM and Digital • Half the costs, learn from each other • Bring a few engineers over from the UK • Digital had a good idea of how to go much faster • experience with floating point and better for Unix • ARM knew all about embedded • Digital needed Thumb IP • Cambridge is cold in winter • Austin isn't • Margaritas taste better than warm beer • My eldest child was born • I wanted to be home more • Robin's only regret • ARM was getting bigger, slower, political ...

24. Austin Design Centre ('97 & '98) • Sometimes things just go to custard • Digital Equipment HQ sues Intel • Intel Buy Digital (cheaper than a law suit) • StrongARM design team quit to do a startup • but they didn't know about embedded … • Chip design tool supplier bought and scrapped • changing chip design tools is a big deal ... • ARM9 team were having huge problems with OS bugs • Big problems = big opportunity • Start an ARM design centre in Austin • teach ourselves high performance, floating point, running Unix • New chip, new team, new tools, new country • Hiring frenzy • plus infrastructure, buildings, admin, timezones • Startup atmosphere, I just replicated early ARM • borrowed legal, finance, marketing people from elsewhere ... • High Performance chips that Cambridge could proliferate

25. How to avoid ARM9 OS bugs • I wrote an instruction set simulator for my thesis • ARMulator could boot an OS in about 1 minute • System was actually 'usable' • type on keyboard, tap on screen etc • I used it to model ARM10, and record what the correct path was through the OS • played the real chip models against that path • fixed every difference • Lesson: Broad background from University really helped

26. Broad not Bored • Cambridge graduate ...

27. Initial Public Offering (IPO) • In 1998 ARM listed its shares on the London and NASDAQ Stock Exchanges • ARM employees had been given share options every year • I had no idea what they were worth • As it turned out, nor did anyone else • Lesson: NIF Investment in 1993 • Know your sell price and stick to it • But how to know what was a good sell price

28. The Four M Plan • There were 4 levels of wealth that were important to me • Split my share options into four equal sized chucks and sell when each of the first three quarters hit it's price goal. See what happens with the final quarter • Mortgage ... own the family home in Texas mortgage free • about US$500K before 40% tax • IPO set a share price, so we hit that immediately • MacDonalds ... put enough money in the bank that flipping hamburgers at MacDonalds will support the family • about US$1 million after tax • Share price hit that level about 6 months later ... • no More work ... retire early if desired • about US$3 million after tax • Share price reached that about 3 months after we sold the last lot ... • Monaco plan ... I can retire to Monaco ... • try and pick the top of the market (gamble one quarter of my stock)

29. Year 2000 • ARM10200 first silicon fully functional • Revision 1 well under control with a few enhancements • Design Flow was actually flowing … • ARM11 specified and understood (Cambridge) • Austin team (50 people) were actually a team • a layer of good leaders beneath me • I needed a rest • Share price approaching UK£10 (Market Cap >U$20b)

30. Retirement • I bailed back to NZ in early June 2000, just under 9 years at ARM • technically on sabbatical • thinking about how to do a CPU that was completely new • third child born in July • eldest turning 4 … schooling • Robin Saxby had a regret ... • then 3 months later .com tech stock crash • 60% wiped off NASDAQ over a few months • I sold up my final quarter of shares at the absolute top of the market • Lesson: Luck ... but why did I have so many shares in the first place ... hard work • Lesson: Shares go up, and then down (often quickly), and then take 10 or 15 years to recover ... so don't be greedy

31. 2001 to 2014 • Built a home on the outskirts of Christchurch • 2 years of planning and 2 years of building • Hint: house architecture is much easier than chip architecture ... • Children • I'm just a Dad • Travel • Show my children some of the world • A few lectures • Performed a wedding ceremony • For Robin Saxby's daughter

32. The World is Changing Faster • So much opportunity to be creative now • Combine a 3D printer and a RaspberryPi • limitless possibilities • Consumer devices like phones, games, media players • Robotics • Home Automation • KickStarter ... • My light switch • Pi with BT & WiFi • Touchscreen • CBus IF • Plastic • XBMC • Hint: What could be more dull than a light switch ...

33. Biggest Lesson • A Cambridge University Degree isn't any better than a Canterbury University Degree • and in some ways it's worse • if you think you know everything you're not going to be any good at inventing what will come next • Often what comes next will be a combination of many things, things that no one yet knows • a broad education is more valuable than a narrow one • because you can stand tall upon a broad foundation • ARM was inventing new stuff, so it couldn't be taught • not just know how to know, or know how to be taught • you need to know how to learn, independently • Mistakes are good things, admit them, embrace them • they mean you are learning, so why not just try it and see