ARM FLEXIBLE ACCESS (AFA)

COMPUTE SUB SYSTEM (CSS)

ARM FLEXIBLE ACCESS (AFA)
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Worldwide access to a wide library of Arm IP, tools, and training that are created to support the design process. Products under AFA include, though not limited to, Cortex Processors, Ethos Machine Learning Processors, Corstone IP, CoreLink Interconnect and others.

Every AFA token has an active life of one (1) year, or twelve (12) months  from the date of receipt, which shall be decided at the point of award. There shall be five (5) Standard AFA tokens and twenty (20) Entry AFA tokens available for distribution. For the Standard AFA tokens, the number of tape-out allowed during that active period is unlimited, subject to paying respective Tape-Out Fee to Arm; whereas the Entry AFA tokens allow for a maximum of one (1) tape-out for the active period of one (1) year or twelve (12) months subject to paying respective Tape-Out Fee to Arm.

COMPUTE SUB SYSTEM (CSS)
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A pre-configured and verified compute subsystem that performs the non-differentiated steps to reduce time-to-market, engineering efforts, and technical and commercial risks to recipients. Recipient of the one (1) CSS token receives a state-of-the-art CSS intellectual property by Arm with other associated technical and ecosystem support.

Every CSS token has an active life of three (3) years, or thirty-six (36) months from the date of receipt, which shall be decided at the point of approval.

Qualifying Criteria
Technical capability
  • Proven expertise of chip design team for advanced nodes, e.g. 16nm, 7nm, 5nm, 3nm and below.
  • Demonstrated experience of the design team in utilising Arm IPs, including but not limited to, Cortex-A, Cortex-M, Neoverse architecture and others.
  • Verified access to industry-standard Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools compatible with Arm IP, including but not limited to, Cadence, Synopsys, Mentor Graphics.
  • Compliance with foundry’s Process Design Kit (PDK) standards for relevant technology nodes. Compliance evidence must include certification results from the foundry or equivalent authorised PDK audits.
  • Proven track record of either successful prototype or production-quality chip with advanced nodes below 16nm.
Operational readiness
  • Minimum of 20 qualified design engineers, either in-house or design service provider, specialising in Arm architecture design, verification, and implementation, dedicated for the project from the CSS token awarded.
Commercial
requirements
  • Displayed financial viability of the proposed design and commercialisation strategy.
  • Existing positive cash flow evidence, with audited summary accounts for the past three (3) years, with a positive unqualified opinion from auditors that the business is a going concern in the most recent financial audit period.
  • Submission of comprehensive commercialisation and product roadmap.
Strategic alignment
to national
objectives
  • Local ownership: Applicants with high existing local ownership and domicile in Malaysia shall be preferred over applicants without, though the latter is not excluded automatically.
  • Local-first requirement: Demonstrated search for local semiconductor companies for every part of the supply chain, and cooperating with local semiconductor companies, directly or joint venture with other experienced foreign semiconductor companies, with requisite capabilities for the supply chain in the CSS applied for. Applicants with high local-first compliance shall be preferred.
  • Technology transfer: Evidence of partnerships or joint ventures with local semiconductor companies aimed at knowledge transfer, technical capability enhancement or joint IP development.
  • Training and R&D: Participation in local training and R&D programs, and other capacity-building initiatives, in line with the national objective.
Documents needed for application 
Company profile
  • Background of the applicant(s), including certificate(s) of incorporation and ownership structure
  • Size (number of employees and breakdown of engineers)
  • Financial statements, including revenue and profits, for the past two (3) years, and/or latest fundraising rounds
  • Market reach and share (optional)
Product roadmaps
  • Location at which the main design activity is conducted
  • Key products completed, including project name, CPU core used, foundry, target clock speed, number of gates (approx.), tools used, and manufacturing details
  • Future products, ongoing and planned
  • Commercialisation timelines
  • Local partnership strategy
Strategic and
Commercial proposal
  • Business plan for the next two (2) years  
  • Funding model for the CSS applied 
  • Supply chain map-out for the CSS applied, including relevant partners and their capabilities 
Collaboration agreements with local partners, if applying as part of a consortium or partnership
Applicant contact details