ARC International

ARC International was a British company specializing in the development of customizable microprocessors. The supplied French-language Wikipedia entry dates its activity from 1988 to 2009. Its history traces the company’s technological background to Argonaut Software, which developed the Super FX processor for Nintendo’s Super Nintendo console. Argonaut later formed Argonaut Technologies as a division focused on 3D graphics hardware. In 1994, that division announced a new 32-bit RISC processor called ARC, short for Argonaut RISC Core. Released in 1996, it was described as the first customizable microprocessor and was intended for integration into application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). ARC International was split off in 1998 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in September 2001. Trading ended with its last quotation on 13 October 2009. The supplied evidence does not establish the company’s headquarters, founders, owners, product range beyond its processor technology, or present-day successor.

ARC International’s documented origins are linked to Argonaut Software’s work on game-console graphics hardware. In the early 1990s, Argonaut developed Star Wing for Nintendo’s Super Nintendo. Argonaut’s president, Jez San, brought in specialists to create a 3D accelerator for the console. The team developed a processor code-named MARIO Chip, an acronym for “Mathematical, Argonaut, Rotation & Input/Output”; Nintendo renamed it Super FX. According to the supplied source, more than ten million units of the chip were sold, and it became the best-selling RISC microprocessor in the world at that time. In 1994, Argonaut created a division called Argonaut Technologies, focused on 3D graphics hardware. That year, the division announced a new 32-bit RISC processor named ARC, meaning Argonaut RISC Core. The processor was released in 1996. The source describes it as the first customizable microprocessor, designed to be integrated into ASICs. This customizable-core approach is the clearest documented basis for ARC International’s business identity. The company was split off in 1998. It entered the London Stock Exchange in September 2001. The supplied entry states that its shares were withdrawn from the exchange and gives 13 October 2009 as the date of the last quotation. It characterizes ARC International as a British company active from 1988 to 2009. The evidence provided does not specify the terms of the 1998 separation, its headquarters, its founders, later ownership, or what became of its assets or technology after trading ended.

• 2009

  Last London Stock Exchange quotation on 13 October

• 2001

  Listed on the London Stock Exchange in September

• 1998

  Company split-off

• 1996

  ARC processor released

• 1994

  Argonaut Technologies announces the ARC 32-bit RISC processor

• 1988

  Start of the period of activity cited for ARC International

A developer of customizable processor cores intended for integration into ASICs.

• ARC (Argonaut RISC Core)

  A customizable 32-bit RISC processor released in 1996 and intended for integration into ASICs.

1. 1ARC Internationalfr.wikipedia.org
2. 2ARC Internationalwikidata.org