Synopsys ARC AXS10x/AXS103 SDP board PLL clock controller
Programs the on-board PLL clock generators on Synopsys's ARC Software Development Platform boards (AXS101 and AXS103), the FPGA-based reference kits that chip designers and firmware engineers use to bring up Linux on ARC processor cores. The boards have been around since the mid-2010s and are still listed by Synopsys as current development hardware in 2025.
recommendation
Worth keeping but flagging as niche, because the AXS103 development board is still sold by Synopsys and the code received a real maintenance update in August 2025, yet actual deployments are confined to ARC chip-development labs and SDK users rather than any consumer or production fleet. There is no sign of upstream removal pressure, so it should remain available for the small group of ARC developers who depend on it.
repository signals
sources
- lore.kernel.org
Upstream activity is recent: this driver saw a functional API conversion patch in August 2025, indicating maintenance rather than abandonment.
- synopsys.com
Synopsys still listed the AXS103 Software Development Platform as a current product page in 2026, so the associated AXS10x board hardware was still being sold new in 2025.
- synopsys.com
Synopsys describes AXS103 as a ready-to-use ARC software development platform, confirming this is niche development-kit hardware rather than broad commodity deployment.
- foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors.github.io
embARC platform documentation still documents the ARC AXS103 platform and its Linux software package, supporting continued though specialized use.
- foss-for-synopsys-dwc-arc-processors.github.io
embARC OSP still documents the ARC Software Development Platform board family, reinforcing that present-day deployments are mainly vendor/SDK and lab use.
codex reasoning notes (technical)
Local source inspection via shell rg tied the directory to DT compatibles for Synopsys AXS10x/AXS103 SDP PLL clocks. `lore_activity` on `drivers/clk/axs10x/pll_clock.c` produced the cited linux-clk URL and showed a substantive 2025 maintenance patch; no removal evidence surfaced. Web search produced the Synopsys and embARC URLs, which show AXS103 still marketed/documented in 2026. Conclusion: hardware is still sold, but deployments are limited to ARC development platforms and prototypes, so keep the driver but annotate as niche/low-deployment rather than deprecate.