Chip designer ARM continues to push ahead with its Internet of Things (IoT) strategy, hardware and software development. The firm has just announced that it has acquired a pair of tech companies which specialise in low-power wireless communications. ARM says that the intellectual property of the two companies, Wicentric and Sunrise Micro Devices (SMD), will be integrated to form the ARM Cordio portfolio. The Wicentric and SMD sites have already been modified to redirect to the ARM Cordio portfolio site.
Wicentric was a provider of Bluetooth Smart software solutions. This company was working to help develop low-power wireless products. IoT devices are often designed to use very little power and of course the 'I' of IoT requires networking of some sort so Wicentric with its efficient Bluetooth stack and silicon integration technology sounds like a canny buy for ARM.
Sunrise Micro Devices (SMD) specialised, like Wicentric, in communications. In SMD's case the focus is on radio IP solutions with native sub-one volt operation. These low-power solutions can run for extended periods off batteries or even be made to work from harvested energy within the device's environment. Harvested energy might typically come from solar cells.
As mentioned in the intro, the pair of acquired companies will form the basis of ARM Cordio which you can read more about here. The basic purpose of Cordio is to provide IoT communications to your device with lower power requirements than rival technologies. According to ARM's new site, the sub 1V Cordio Radio IP can typically result in 60 per cent more battery life than rival 1.2V solutions. SoC designers, especially those using the ARM Cortex-M series of processors, should therefore be attracted by ARM's newly acquired radio IP which offers easy radio solution supporting process, system, and software integration.
