Internet of Things (IoT)

This will bring massive choice and diversity – there will not be 100 billion of the same devices. There will be millions of different devices and apps: what you need in a healthcare sensor is different to what you need in air conditioning; a temperature sensor is different to the controller in an electric motor. All of which are different to the controllers used in cars. The future of the Internet of Things is that one size will not fit all, but they will all be based on ARM.

To fulfill the potential of the Internet of Things, diversity will be essential. ARM’s business model is based on licensing the core technology to different partners, allowing them to differentiate and add value. Multiple suppliers for each form factor ensures competition, competition spurs innovation and differentiation, which exemplifies the fact that diversity is what the Internet of Things is all about.

Besides the ability to address different markets, to explore new ones, and the ability to scale from small to large, the ecosystem for the Internet of Things will have to be more diverse than we have for the mobile Internet today. Enabling ecosystems that drive innovation is a critical part of what ARM does with its partnership based business model.

Many of those embedded controllers are in products that in the future will become part of the Internet of Things:

• The Cortex-M3 has become the defacto standard in the first wave of smartwatches that are entering the market;
• A number of fitness and wellness bands, like the Fitbit and Fuelcell, are powered by the Cortex-M0 or Cortex-M0+;
• Across the city of San Francisco, parking spaces “articulate” that they are available and can be reserved via a smartphone.

The increased software demands to achieve that are a natural fit for ARM’s products. All the time new possibilities are being created; take the work by the University of Michigan. Its teams have created a complete system in one mm3, almost too small to see. Built using ARM technology, it comprises a processor, memory, battery and solar cell to scavenge energy all with the ability to do extremely short range communication.

Today’s Internet of Things rely on inexpensive, small sensors. They need to be power efficient, and be able to run on batteries that last for 10 years. They also need to be design efficient for integration into things that cost less than $1 (possibly as little as 50 cents).

• Keil Tools
• DS5 Tools
• PIPD ultra low leakage (ULL) libraries
• Cortex-M0
• Cortex-M0+
• Cortex-M3
• Cortex-M4
• Cortex-R4
• Cortex-R5
• Cortex-A9
• Mali Graphics

• Atmel
• GainSpan Corp
• NXP
• Nordic Semiconductor ASA
• STMicroelectronics
• Suvolta
• IAR Systems
• Micrium
• MontaVista
• Mentor Graphics