The ARM core application continues to grow, and the MCU architecture is diversified to benefit the industry.

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Due to the successful promotion of ARM's Cortex M series cores in recent years, all major MCU vendors have introduced ARM core MCU products, and even some manufacturers only push processors based on general-purpose ARM cores. In the face of kernel convergence, how to develop a unique MCU that will not be replaced becomes more and more important. Some manufacturers choose to develop MCU cores to enhance their competitiveness and differentiation, and compete with ARM ecosystem; others are based on ARM license, and on this basis, improve external interface circuits and enrich resources. How to maintain the highlights and features of their MCU products will be the key to future MCU vendors' competition.

ARM core applications continue to grow

The MCU with ARM processor core is not losing momentum. Semiconductor manufacturers such as Freescale, TI, ST, and Infineon are committed to the ARM core MCU. According to Yan Lifeng, ARM China Embedded Market Manager, ARM has sold about 160 Cortex M licenses worldwide, including for the MCU market and for certain ASIC or ASSP specific markets.

"ARM's Cortex M is so popular, based on the kernel's own good features, including optimized code density to save system costs, the instruction set of the kernel upgrade is compatible to facilitate customer project development. On the other hand, it is also rich with ARM. Ecosystem resources are closely related. Among them, many MCU vendors continue to introduce MCU products based on Cortex M series cores, as well as a wealth of third-party solution resources covering MCU application development including Compiler/IDE/RTOS/Middleware. In other respects, it provides a powerful boost for partners in the ARM ecosystem,” said Li Lifeng.

Jin Yujie, Marketing Director of NXP Semiconductors Greater China, also said that the performance of the ARM core itself is very good, the corresponding tools and support environment are very mature, and there are many users. We will concentrate on the peripheral interface circuits and no longer spend Time to develop the MCU core.

The ARM kernel is also expanding into new areas. Yan Lifeng said that MCU is the basis for supporting IoT/Big Data. Its specific industry applications can be said to be everywhere, and each application has different requirements for MCU cores. ARM's product development roadmap is also in response to this market demand. And development. For example, the Cortex M-series cores include the entry-level Cortex M0 and Cortex M0+, the Cortex M3 for mainstream applications, and the Cortex M4 for high-end applications that require DSP instructions and floating-point operations. In many emerging markets, such as Smart Sensor/Power Management IC/RF, many chip partners are also working with ARM.

External interface circuit becomes the key to differentiation

In the face of a wider range of general-purpose MCU applications with ARM cores, how to develop unique MCUs that will not be replaced becomes more and more important. A rich and complete external interface circuit has become an important response.

Jin Yujie believes that the peripheral performance of the MCU is very important when the cores tend to be homogeneous. It allows various vendors to reflect their own differences, such as some special interfaces, clock settings, etc., is the point of distinction with other manufacturers. Of course, cost is also important. At the beginning of design, we must consider reducing design costs and meeting market demand to gain competitive advantage.

Jin Guangyi, product manager of GigaDevice MCU, said: “In the fierce market competition of MCU, the differentiation of products is the key. The product line is differentiated to improve the cost performance of products and the performance of core competitiveness. The innovative GD32 MCU integrates the Cortex M3 processor core with a rich set of peripherals. In addition, all MCUs are fully compatible in software and pin package for product line planning, which can effectively improve user development efficiency and reduce project cost. , shorten the design cycle."

MCU architecture diversification is beneficial to industry development

Although ARM cores are popular, proprietary cores are also important in special application areas. Wei Ke, the application manager of ADI's precision ADC product line, pointed out that ARM is now an open processor core in the industry, which is in the creation of chip design ecological environment, the richness and reusability of software and hardware development resources, and the acceleration of project design cycle. Both have obvious advantages. The development of MCU products using ARM architecture, especially 32-bit MCU products, has become the mainstream trend in the MCU product field. But overall, the future of diversified MCU architecture will be the mainstream of market development. With the rapid development of technology, various new solutions have emerged. Of course, in either case, high performance and low cost are always the ultimate goal pursued by the manufacturer.

Jin Yujie also pointed out that if there is only one kind of core in the market, it is unfavorable for competition. I believe that more new core products will be launched in the future, forming a healthy market environment and making the kernel market develop better and better. From the perspective of development trends, processing performance will become stronger and stronger, gates will become smaller and smaller, and instructions will become more and more streamlined. In addition, high-end products will integrate more functions such as floating-point arithmetic, DSP and so on. These are all kernel development needs to pay attention to.