The rise of smartphones and the growing presence of IoT devices share one undeniable similarity, the fact that the Arm ecosystem is the driving force behind both.
The chip designer is in a unique position to drive innovation and adoption of IoT due to the fact that Arm technology touches 70 percent of the world's population as 180bn Arm-based chips have been shipped since the company was founded 30 years ago. However, of those 180bn chips, more than 100bn have shipped in just the past five years alone.
In order to further enable the development, deployment and monetization of IoT devices, Arm has announced that it will expand the endpoint AI capabilities of its Flexible Access portfolio with the inclusion of the Arm Cortex-M55 and Ethos-U55. The company has also released a new Roadmap Guarantee for its Arm Flexible Access partners while focusing its software investment on simplifying development to unleash the potential of its diverse IoT ecosystem.
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In a press release, VP of Arm's IoT business Mohamed Awad explained why the company is doing more to foster the IoT revolution, saying:
“Arm technology enabled a smartphone revolution that changed the way we used technology forever, but we need more from the IoT revolution. We need IoT to make our lives better across everything we do. We continue to set a high bar with smartphone innovation, but for IoT innovation and its unlimited potential to change lives, there really is no high bar or ceiling for what the Arm ecosystem can achieve together.”
Endpoint AI
Endpoint AI refers to IoT endpoint devices with the capability to locally process data into actionable insights and Arm believes that this technology will help accelerate the value generated from IoT devices and drive adoption.
To enable mass deployment of endpoint AI, earlier this year the company introduced the industry's first microNPU, the Ethos-U55 and Cortex M55 microcontroller. More recently though, Arm announced the Ethos U-65 which brings the same capability to higher performance points and extends microNPU applicability to Cortex-A based systems.
In an effort to further accelerate endpoint AI deployments, the company has expanded its Flexible Access portfolio to include both the Cortex-M55 and Ethos-U55 to provide its partners with the freedom to explore, experiment and design with these products without any up-front licensing costs.
Arm has also updated its Roadmap Guarantee to ensure it will continue to offer the CPUs included in the Flexible Access portfolio for five years and that future Cortex-M and Ethos-U products will be added to the program shortly after they come to market.
While IoT adoption has increased in the past few years, organizations have found it difficult to generate value from IoT devices and hopefully Arm's commitment to the technology can help change this.
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