Enhanced ARM DesignStart Eliminates Upfront License Fees for ARM Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3 Processors

Business Wire India
News highlights:

• ARM DesignStart program expanded to include ARM Cortex-M3 processor
• Zero upfront license fees for designing production SoCs based on Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3, two of the world’s most popular processor cores (with more than a combined 20 billion units shipped)
• Provides the fastest, simplest way to both evaluate and commercialize proven processors, paving the way to 1 trillion connected devices
• Accelerates Cortex-M3 based SoC designs with complete IP subsystem and verified support for ARM mbed OS

ARM has made several enhancements to the ARM DesignStart program, expanding the program to include the ARM Cortex-M3 processor and announcing zero upfront license fees for both the Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M3 processors, providing the fastest path forward for evaluating, designing and bringing custom SoCs to market.

DesignStart has been providing fast access to ARM IP since before 2010. Two years ago, ARM announced the availability of the enhanced Cortex-M0 system in DesignStart, which kick-started a new wave of ultra-efficient, custom system-on-chip (SoC) development. Thanks to DesignStart, several hundred more embedded designers, startups, and OEMs are now participating in the collaborative ARM ecosystem. Their resulting custom SoCs designs are enabling embedded intelligence in a diverse range of IoT and connected devices. ARM has been listening to feedback and consistently focusing on improving its offering. So today, ARM is enhancing DesignStart to further pave the way to success for developers looking to design custom SoCs with confidence, and for innovators who want to bring new ideas to market rapidly and with minimal risk.
 
Enhanced DesignStart: Quickest, cheapest, lowest-risk route to success in embedded solutions

In the quest to make embedded processing technology more accessible for IoT and intelligent, connected solution development, ARM has made several enhancements to the DesignStart program, providing the fastest path forward for evaluating, designing and bringing custom SoCs to market.

The enhanced DesignStart program offers:

• The addition of Cortex-M3, the most successful ARM Cortex-M processor
• Ongoing access to Cortex-M0 to address the broadest range of smart embedded applications
• Elimination of up-front license or evaluation fees, enabling a low-risk, success-based royalty model
• Instant access with free download, for evaluation and prototype development. CPUs available to start commercial development with a straightforward downloadable licence
• Reduced time-to-production through online access to ARM CoreLink SDK-100, a proven subsystem, and system IP solution
• 10x developer productivity gains with CoreLink SSE-050 Subsystem and verified support for mbed OS, to further ensure the most managed, scalable and secure IoT products
• Design assistance services from ARM and ARM Approved design house partners, so even companies that simply ‘just want a chip’ can benefit from a custom SoC
• Ongoing access to thousands of physical IP libraries for fastest and most efficient silicon implementation

It's amazing when one thinks about the fact that more than 20 billion chips have shipped with Cortex-M0 or Cortex-M3 processors in them, and half of those shipped in just the last couple of years. The popularity of these processors is driven by their versatility and extremely small size and power characteristics, which can enable even battery-less, energy-harvesting applications. The Cortex-M0, for example, can fit on the cross section of a human hair. You can find some examples of the innovation that's enabled by these processors on ARM's Innovation Hub.
 
Unlocking intelligence and differentiation for 1 trillion IoT devices

At ARM Techcon last fall, SoftBank Chairman, and President, Masayoshi Son, provided insights on why SoftBank acquired ARM and the role it plays in his vision of 1 trillion connected devices globally. To achieve this vision, embedded intelligence must be highly accessible and cost-efficient, across a common platform.

To fully unlock this vision, custom SoCs are necessary. They can reduce complexity and cost, increase differentiation and efficiency as well as simplify the supply chain. A new whitepaper by Tirias Research highlights both the top-line growth and bottom-line profit benefits a custom SoC brings to an OEM, stating:

“An ASIC may be able to add more features to the product for an up sell. The bottom line is improved by reducing board size and reducing expensive discrete components.”  
ARM is already seeing a number of partners reaping the benefits of custom SoCs – for example, S3 Group has developed an ARM-based custom SoC for an industrial control application that reduced power requirements by 70 percent, cost of parts by 80 percent and PCB size by 75 percent.