2009년 5월 28일 목요일

TI backs ARM Cortex-M3 32-bit MCUs with Luminary Micro buy

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing Editor, News -- 5/15/2009
Electronic News

Texas Instruments Inc has expanded its MCU portfolio with the acquisition of Luminary Micro, a leading supplier of ARM Cortex-M3-based 32-bit MCUs.

TI already has its own portfolio of 16- and 32-bit MCUs, as well as an array of ARM-based CPUs. With the buy, TI gains Luminary Micro’s Stellaris family of Cortex-M3 processors, allowing the Dallas-based company to address mainstream 32-bit MCU markets.

"TI is itself no stranger to the ARM architecture and has offered ARM-based chipsets for cell phones for many years. TI has also supplied ARM-based MCUs for several years, although its TMS470 family is primarily targeted at automotive applications," Colin Barnden, a principal analyst with Semicast, said in a statement from the market research company. "TI clearly had a hole to fill if it was to participate in the rapidly growing market for ARM-based MCUs."

TI said the Stellaris family is positioned for applications requiring control processing and connectivity capabilities, including motion control, remote monitoring, HVAC and building controls, network appliances and switches, factory automation, electronic point-of-sale machines, test and measurement equipment, medical instrumentation, and gaming equipment. The MCU family’s communication capabilities include 10/100 Ethernet MAC+PHY, CAN, USB On-The-Go, USB Host/Device, SSI/SPI, UARTs, I2S, and I2C.

“Combining Luminary Micro’s design experience in Cortex-M3 processors with TI's expertise in ultra-low power MSP430 MCUs and high-performance C2000 real-time controllers now gives TI customers one MCU source for almost any application – all complemented by the industry’s most expansive embedded processing and analog portfolios,” said Brian Crutcher, VP of TI’s Advanced Embedded Control (AEC) business, in a TI statement.

While the technology offers a wide range of application, Semicast estimated that TI's primary goal in acquiring Luminary is to target the "rapidly growing market for ARM MCUs in the industrial sector." Semicast has forecasted revenues for ARM-based MCUs in the industrial sector (including medical) will grow to almost $1 billion in 2013 from around $150 million in 2007.

"That is strong growth in anyone's eyes and, in the current economic climate, is an opportunity that no semiconductor supplier can overlook," Barnden said. "Considering that Luminary's focus to date has almost entirely been on the industrial market, and that TI is already a leading supplier to the industrial sector with its standard linear products, C2000 DSPs and ultra-low power MSP430 family, this is arguably one of the best matched acquisitions in recent history."
The acquisition is not without question, however. Barnden said it is unclear what TI's plans are for its 16-bit MSP430 family, given the buy. "Targeted primarily at industrial applications such as utility meters and consumer medical, MSP430 has been under increasing attack from Cortex-M3 MCUs, including Luminary's Stellaris, for the last few years," he said. "If TI is to maximize the benefits of its Luminary acquisition, it should license the recently announced Cortex-M0 processor and take its ARM MCU offering even further into traditional 8/16-bit territory. That will inevitably lose some MSP430 design-wins, but it may also help finish off a competitor or two along the way."

With the buy, Luminary Micro will merge into TI's AEC organization. Jim Reinhart, TI general manager and former Luminary Micro CEO, will lead TI’s Catalog ARM MCU business and roadmap. The Cortex-M3 MCU business will continue to operate from its site in Austin, which will now be known as TI AEC Austin.

“Today’s announcement is great news for our customers,” Reinhart said in the TI statement. “Moving forward, our customers not only benefit from the award-winning Stellaris family, but also enjoy the technology and manufacturing strength of TI, an experienced analog and embedded processing leader with a global footprint.”

Followed by a range of companies that include NXP, STMicroelectronics, and Toshiba, Luminary Micro was the first licensee of the Cortex-M3 processor. Semicast credited much of ARM's acceptance as a strong contender in the overall MCU market beyond cell phones to Luminary Micro's promotion of Cortex-M3 MCUs.

"Luminary's goal was clearly to blur the traditional 8/16/32-bit boundaries, and to challenge the perception that ARM could not succeed in cost sensitive MCU applications," Barnden said. "In Semicast's view Luminary succeeded, and as other suppliers such as Atmel, NXP, and STMicroelectronics have all introduced Cortex-M3 MCUs, so ARM has gradually become established as a serious architecture in traditional MCU applications."

Indeed, Semicast recently predicted in a report on the market for 32- and 64-bit MCUs and embedded MPUs that ARM will pass both Power Architecture and x86 to become the leading 32-bit microcontroller and embedded microprocessor architecture in 2011.

According to ARM, there are now almost 250 Cortex-M3 processor-based MCUs available running at up to 100 MHz. These devices contributed to an increase in ARM processor-based MCUs shipped during 2008 of more than 95% to 255 million units, the company said. 
“The acquisition by TI is a clear demonstration of the growing momentum behind the Cortex-M3 processor in the MCU market and the strides that Luminary has made,” Mike Inglis, executive VP and general manager of ARM processor division, said in a statement from the company.

“The MCU market is consolidating around standards, and it is clear that the ARM Cortex-M3 processor is rapidly gaining traction,” said Reinhard Keil, director of MCU tools at ARM, in the statement. “TI and Luminary are both significant players in the MCU market with complementary strengths and this acquisition will take the Cortex-M3 processor into a broader range of markets.”

The transaction closed on May 14. TI did not disclose financial details of the deal.

© 2009, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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