ARM Announces Support For EEMBC CoreMark Benchmark

New open source benchmark provides an alternative to Dhrystone

June 01, 2009 -- ARM today announced their support for the new EEMBC (Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium) CoreMark processor benchmark.

CoreMark is a synthetic benchmark, but carries out meaningful calculations, and is claimed to be a significant improvement on current Dhrystone benchmarks which is overly dependent on the performance of the C library.

“ARM has been a board member of EEMBC since its formation in 1997 and welcomes the introduction of the CoreMark benchmark,” said Eric Schorn, VP marketing, Processor Division, ARM. “We believe that CoreMark represents a significant improvement on the current Dhrystone benchmarks by measuring processor behavior that could more realistically be expected in a real application. Combined with greater access to the results, this new benchmark should enable developers to obtain an unambiguous representation of processor performance enabling comparisons between competing processors to be made.”

EEMBC was established to develop meaningful performance benchmarks for the hardware and software used in embedded systems. Through the combined efforts of its members, EEMBC® benchmarks have become an industry standard for evaluating the capabilities of embedded processors, compilers, and Java implementations according to objective, clearly defined, application-based criteria. Since its formation, EEMBC's membership has grown to more than 50 members.

About ARM

ARM designs the technology that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from mobile, home and enterprise solutions to embedded and emerging applications. ARM’s comprehensive product offering includes 16/32-bit RISC microprocessors, data engines, graphics processors, digital libraries, embedded memories, peripherals, software and development tools, as well as analog functions and high-speed connectivity products. Combined with the company’s broad Partner community, they provide a total system solution that offers a fast, reliable path to market for leading electronics companies. More information on ARM is available at http://www.arm.com.