ARM Instruction‑Set‑Compatible Architecture in High‑Performance Computing: Development, Ecosystem, and Future Trends

The whitepaper introduces the development, evolution, and achievements of ARM instruction‑set‑compatible architectures, emphasizing their growing importance in high‑performance computing (HPC) and their suitability for both large‑scale supercomputers and commercial HPC systems.

National HPC strategies: China, the United States, Europe, and Japan drive supercomputing projects through initiatives such as China’s Ministry of Science and Technology program, the US ECP, Europe’s EuroHPC, and Japan’s FLAGSHIP 2020. Notable examples include China’s next‑generation Tianhe system, Europe’s EuroHPC‑backed ARM CPUs, Japan’s A64FX‑based Fugaku, and the US NVIDIA Grace‑based Venado.

TOP500 presence: As of November 2022, five ARM‑based systems entered the TOP500, with Japan contributing four (including Fugaku, which topped the list in June 2020). The United States, Europe, and China also announced multiple ARM‑based projects.

Representative supercomputers: Fugaku (Japan, 537.21 PFlop/s, AI and climate research), Wisteria (Tokyo University, hybrid HPC/AI), Flow (Nagoya University, pandemic and climate studies), Astra (US Sandia Lab, nuclear safety), Isambard (UK, first European ARM‑based system), Mont‑Blanc (European exascale demonstrator), Alpine (Switzerland, AI‑focused), and Venado (US, >10 ExaFlop AI peak).

Commercial HPC rise: Domestic ARM server chip vendors include Huawei (Kunpeng 920), Phytium, and Alibaba’s Yitian 710; foreign vendors include NVIDIA, Marvell, Ampere, Amazon (Graviton series), and Fujitsu. These chips power a wide range of workloads from AI to scientific simulation.

Architectural improvements: Since ARMv8’s 64‑bit debut, ARM CPUs have added NEON vector extensions, and ARMv9 now offers AI‑focused SVE2 vector instructions, enhanced security features, and higher single‑core frequencies. Memory bandwidth has increased with HBM2e/HBM3, and chip designs have moved toward many‑core (48‑core A64FX, 64‑core Kunpeng 920, 128‑core Altra Max) and heterogeneous configurations.

Future trends: Continued growth in single‑core performance, broader adoption of SVE2 (approaching X86 AVX‑512 capabilities), higher memory bandwidth, stronger security modules, proliferation of custom ARM chips, increased participation of end‑users (e.g., AWS, Alibaba) in chip design, and easier application migration through binary translation technologies.

The whitepaper concludes that ARM‑compatible architectures are poised to become a dominant force in HPC, challenging the traditional x86 dominance and driving innovation across both scientific and commercial domains.