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This is a lot more than register specifications. It is a specification of the complete functionality of the architecture, written in a format that allows you to generate simulators, do formal verification of RTL code, or probably even generate synthesizable RTL code as well.

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Probably best not to get too excited about generating hardware from the specs... That would compete with ARM's main source of revenue and my reading of the license is that that is the one thing you cannot do with the spec. But I am not a lawyer.

Or, on a more technical note, my feeling is that if that is what you wanted to do, then you would not start from the style of specification ARM has released.

Licensing aside it is still pretty bold for a fabless IP-only company like ARM to release this level of detailed specification; unlike e.g. Intel or AMD who could still have an advantage even if others made competing implementations, because of their fab technology.

I'd bet there already are clones/semi-clones of ARMs hidden in various obscure far-East ICs which have no user-accessible firmware... we just don't hear about them because the ones we do, would've been sued out of existence. I've seen presumably-unlicensed MIPS cores a lot in those.

I repressed dreams of this so many times along the years I'm tearing up a little.

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