ARM toolchain enables optimised Android development

The toolchain, which is now available to download, incorporates ARM's Streamline performance analyser which is designed to provide 'significant benefits' to semiconductor suppliers and OEMs, as well as mobile application and game developers. According to ARM, the updated toolchain addresses the increasing demand for high performance graphics development. The company believes such advanced visual computing capabilities will deliver next generation smartphone and tablet applications where console like gaming graphics, 3D user interfaces and augmented reality will be the norm. Multicore systems, such as these, benefit from optimisation of intensive tasks where integrated applications processor, gpu and memory subsystem designs can be configured to achieve the highest levels of performance and energy efficiency. The ARM DS-5 v5.9 toolchain is said to enable developers to quickly and easily locate system performance bottlenecks across the Cortex processors, Mali gpus and system IP, resulting in faster applications and accelerating the software development cycle. "Whether consumers are engaging in more immersive game play, using advanced user interfaces or more interactive AR applications, developers must optimise software across the entire system," said Lance Howarth, executive vice president of marketing, ARM. "A single tool chain for processor and gpu performance analysis helps achieve this and provides significant benefits in terms of increased productivity and reduced time to market." The DS-5 toolchain version 5.9 is available for download now via http://www.arm.com/optimize for use on a variety of compatible platforms. Mali gpu specific features can be used with various platforms based on Samsung Exynos, ST-Ericsson U8500 and other Mali gpu based SoCs.