ARM has re-invented itself as a systems company

Low-powered processor developer, ARM has been steadily building a broader range of silicon IP and the software that runs on it.

Jim Wallace, director of system and software, ARM told Electronics Weekly, that the company has reached a point where it can be called a systems company and “no longer only a supplier of CPU cores”.

Wallace said that low power processors are at the heart of all that ARM does but he said that the company has created a range of products and services which he said has turned ARM into a true systems company.

ARM mbed IoT Starter Kit

The firm’s silicon now includes non-CPU functions. There are the Mali graphics processor cores and the Cordio low-power radio IP.

ARM has also developed the AMBA on-chip interface bus which is used to connect the various functional elements of a system-on-chip device.

ARM also has a range of standard cell logic, embedded memory and general purpose interface IP.

It is in software where the biggest change has happened. ARM recognised that the software running on its processors now defines complete systems for specific applications.

A rapid expansion of ARM’s software offering in recent years has given it its route into the systems business.

According to Wallace, ARM can now offer system defining software and firmware and it has the mbed embedded development platform with its own operating system.

“We are not just a silicon IP company, we offer system defining software and firmware,” said Wallace.

To address the market for internet-connected IoT devices, for example, ARM has partnered with IBM to create a complete IoT development platform with hardware, embedded software and cloud computing services.

Wallace said the company has been careful to create specific systems offerings which do not bring it into direct competition with its processor licensees.

“We will not compete with our silicon customers for systems business. We will use the systems products to support our customers,” said Wallace.