ARM Enhances Feature Set of Popular Cortex-M3 Processor for Extreme Low-Power Functionality
14 4월 2008 - 6:54PM
PR Newswire (US)
ARM Builds on Successful Adoption of its Cortex-M3 Processor,
Extending Reach Across Ultra Low-Power Embedded Applications,
Cost-Sensitive Devices and Safety-Critical Solutions CAMBRIDGE,
England, April 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ARM (LSE:ARM)
(NASDAQ:ARMH) today announced at the Embedded Systems Conference
(ESC), San Jose, California, a significant upgrade to the
widely-licensed Cortex(tm)-M3 processor which is utilized in a wide
range of high-performance, low-cost applications. The latest
release includes a new Wake-Up Interrupt (WIC) controller which
allows almost instantaneous return to fully active mode from an
Ultra-Low Leakage (ULL) retention state and introduces enhanced
power management features that address the ongoing need in the
embedded market for increased performance and longer battery life
in next-generation designs. The Cortex-M3 processor is now also
supported by the ARM(R) Power Management Kit(tm) (PMK) and is
tightly integrated with, and optimized for, low-power physical IP
standard cell libraries and memories from the ARM Artisan(R)
physical IP family. Additional enhancements include the ability to
integrate solutions for safety-critical and fault-robust
applications in industrial, medical, and automotive applications.
To enable ultra low-power standby operation, the processor has a
new integrated Wake-Up Interrupt Controller that, when utilized
with low-power cells such as the ARM Power Management Kit (PMK) and
standard cell libraries and memories, enables the core and the
interrupt controller to be rapidly placed in an ultra-low leakage
retention mode, returning to fully active mode almost
instantaneously on critical events. When combined with Partners'
unique insight into power-efficient design techniques, the WIC will
lead to a new wave of extremely power-efficient microcontroller
solutions. By combining the ARM PMK, memories and standard cell
libraries with the Cortex-M3 processor, Partners can also gain
significant time-to-market savings when targeting ultra-low leakage
manufacturing processes for major power-saving benefits with very
low area impact. The Physical IP memories feature byte-write
capability and allow multiple power-down (with retention) modes
when coupled to the PMK. "This release builds upon the strong
reputation of the Cortex-M3 processor and stands as a testament to
ARM's continued innovation and commitment within the global MCU
market," said Eric Schorn, VP Marketing, Processor Division, ARM.
"Many ARM Partners have built extremely successful products using
the Cortex-M3 processor and our latest release with integrated ARM
physical IP, will help users achieve even better levels of
performance, power and cost savings." The Cortex-M3 processor has
received industry-wide support as demonstrated by the adoption of
the technology by some of our leading Partners: The advanced
low-power functionality of the enhanced feature set of the
Cortex-M3 processor has been recognized by Energy Micro, the Oslo
based semiconductor start-up which recently signed a license
agreement with ARM. "Energy Micro's mission is to make the world's
most energy friendly microcontrollers and this enhanced Cortex-M3
processor will enable us to fulfill this mission," says Geir F0rre,
CEO of Energy Micro. "The EnergetIC(tm) microcontroller family from
Energy Micro will have energy consumption at a level that is far
below today's solutions, thus enabling significant improvements in
battery life, and longer lifetime of electronic products." "We
welcome the additional low-power features and configurability
provided by the new Cortex-M3 processor release," said Jean Anne
Booth, CMO of Luminary Micro. "Luminary Micro already ships the
largest line card of ARM technology-based microcontrollers in the
market and these new capabilities will enable us to further extend
the reach of our award-winning Stellaris family of microcontrollers
in our next-generation products." In recognition of their
achievements in the microcontroller market, Luminary Micro was
recently awarded the 2008 Global Frost & Sullivan
Entrepreneurial Company Award. "NXP continues to strengthen its
line of microcontroller solutions for end products in the consumer,
industrial, medical and automotive markets," said Geoff Lees, vice
president and general manager, microcontroller product line at NXP
Semiconductors. "As 32-bit microcontroller technology continues to
advance, NXP looks forward to combining its market-leading
low-power technologies with the new WIC functionality of the
Cortex-M3 processor to further extend its reach into the low-power
handheld, metering and medical application spaces." "In June 2007,
we launched the now famous Cortex-M3 processor-based STM32 family,
recognized as the best ever microcontroller concept addressing the
convergence of 16-bit and 32-bit market needs," said Jim Nicholas,
general manager of the Microcontroller Division at ST Micro. "One
significant success factor of the STM32 family has been our
outstanding low-power implementation, which has set the new
benchmark for power consumption in this area. Integrating the new
release of the Cortex-M3 processor will extend the market
leadership of the STM32 family further." In addition to the
lower-power benefits, the Cortex-M3 processor can now boast a path
to IEC61508 standard SIL3 certification, enabling its use in a
variety of safety-critical applications in automotive, medical and
military markets where Fault Robustness is essential. "Future
automotive embedded systems demand increasing levels of performance
without compromising the system integrity and safety," said Yutaka
Murao, senior fellow of Toshiba Semiconductor Company. "Products
based on the latest release of the Cortex-M3 processor can now be
combined with specific system level fault tolerance components to
meet these demands." "The new release of the Cortex-M3 processor
delivers an excellent, and proven, path for devices to achieve SIL3
certification when implemented in partnership with the FMEA
methodology and IP developed by Yogitech," said Silvano Motto, CEO
Yogitech. "This solution delivers the exceptional fault robust
behaviour required by the IEC61508 standard while minimizing area
cost overhead and adding key benefits at system level." Other new
benefits of the latest release of the Cortex-M3 processor include:
- Significantly extended configurability of debug and trace
capabilities to enable the creation of extremely cost-sensitive,
high-volume 32-bit devices, such as electronic toys and consumer
electronics systems - Improved operating frequency for highest
performance embedded applications - Enhanced signaling to power
management controllers Availability Enhanced support features for
the Cortex-M3 processor will be available in Q2 2008. About the ARM
Cortex-M3 Processor The Cortex-M3 is a processor focused on
cost-sensitive and deterministic applications, including
microcontroller, automotive, medical electronics, and a wide range
of co-processor applications in complex consumer and mobile handset
applications. The processor consists of a three-stage pipelined
central core surrounded by a set of configurable system
peripherals, including a nested vectored interrupt controller
(NVIC), bus matrix and a broad set of debug and trace components.
The NVIC is highly configurable to enable up to 240 physical
interrupts and up to 256 levels of priority, with unlimited
nesting, priority boosting, and integrated non-maskable interrupt
for critical events. The Cortex-M3 processor is proven in market to
be highly reliable and robust with in excess of 100 devices
currently available. The processor is broadly licensed with more
than 20 organizations developing devices and the microcontroller
industry rapidly consolidating on it for next generation 32-bit
devices. Public licensees currently include: Actel, Broadcom,
Energy Micro, Luminary Micro, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics,
Texas Instruments and Toshiba. About the ARM Cortex Family of
Processors The three series in the ARM Cortex family enable chip
manufacturers and OEMs to standardize around a single architecture
from low-end microcontrollers to high-performance applications
processors. Featuring Thumb(R)-2 technology, the ARM Cortex family
significantly reduces development costs and increases enterprise
efficiency. - ARM Cortex-A Series: Applications processors for
complex OS and user applications - ARM Cortex-R Series: Embedded
processors for real-time systems - ARM Cortex-M Series: Deeply
embedded processors optimized for microcontroller and low-cost
applications The ARM Cortex family includes the ARM Cortex-A8, ARM
Cortex-M3, ARM Cortex-R4(F), ARM Cortex-M1 and ARM Cortex-A9
MPCore(tm) and Single Core Processors. About ARM Artisan Physical
IP The ARM product family of Artisan Physical IP solutions provides
ARM Partners with the building blocks to create highly optimized
system-on-chip (SoC) designs. The products, offered in three
platform solutions include; Advantage(tm) platform for performance,
Metro(tm) platform for high density (minimum area) and Velocity(tm)
high-speed PHYs, offers a wide range of high-performance and
high-density, digital and analog products, to design and
manufacture advanced SoCs. About ARM ARM designs the technology
that lies at the heart of advanced digital products, from wireless,
networking and consumer entertainment solutions to imaging,
automotive, security and storage devices. 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
comprehensive design services, training, support and maintenance,
and 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/. ARM, ARM Powered, Artisan and Thumb are
registered trademarks of ARM Limited. Cortex, MPCore, Advantage,
Metro and Velocity are trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands
or product names are the property of their respective holders.
"ARM" is used to represent ARM Holdings plc; its operating company
ARM Limited; and the regional subsidiaries: ARM, Inc.; ARM KK; ARM
Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan Limited; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting
(Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARM Belgium N.V.; AXYS Design Automation Inc.;
ARM Germany GmbH; ARM Embedded Technologies Pvt. Ltd.; and ARM
Norway, AS. DATASOURCE: ARM Ltd CONTACT: Contact Details: ARM Press
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