手机芯片霸主ARM公司的下一个征服目标：物联网

    作为一家为计算机处理器生产指令集构架的英国公司，ARM绝对算不上家喻户晓，至少没有苹果（Apple）的iPhone和谷歌（Google）的Android那么出名。但是，ARM与iPhone和Android一样无处不在。如果你兜里揣着一部智能手机，很有可能——不对，是极有可能——它的芯片是ARM出品。

    ARM表示，目前全球95％以上的智能手机都在采用该公司的微处理器技术，更不用提相当比例的智能电视、可穿戴设备、游戏机和汽车配件了。目前，500多亿块基于ARM设计的芯片在默默地为大半个科技界提供动力。

    在某个领域登峰造极后，一家极度成功的公司该何去何从？自然是另找一座高峰去攀登。随着更多的家电、汽车、机器和其它物品连入无线网，“物联网”的疆域越来越大。这个领域年年都在扩张，而ARM已经开始出击。

    ARM公司负责细分市场营销的副总裁伊恩•弗格森表示：“这一领域确实有大把机会。如果我们将技术广泛应用到各类设备中，显然就有机会提高效率。但问题也变成了如何提高生活质量。”

    据思科公司（Cisco）估算，目前全球约有130亿部无线联网设备。ABI Research预测，到2020年，这个数字将超过300亿。到2017年，与物联网相关的技术和服务收入预计将达到7.3万亿美元。这似乎关系到全球科技市场的未来。

    ‘这可能具有争议性’

    要描述ARM在物联网方面的努力有些困难，因为这家举世闻名的芯片公司本身并不制造芯片，而是将自己的设计授权给一些半导体公司，由它们来生产基于ARM设计的芯片。

    获得授权使用ARM技术的公司包括AMD、博通（Broadcom）和高通（Qualcomm）等。三星（Samsung）、宏达电（HTC）、索尼（Sony）等原始设备制造商（OEM）则使用上述公司的芯片制造新手机、平板以及其他设备，ARM的技术就是通过这种途径进入消费者的手中。

    弗格森表示：“手机、智能手表和联网微波炉所需的芯片极为不同。我们提供核心模块，合作伙伴采取我们的技术，并将其用于联网设备。关键在于定制。”

    鉴于ARM在手机市场占据主导地位，而手机又是消费者首选的联网设备，该公司认为它在推动互联互通方面处于有利地位。

    弗格森说道：“把手机用作获得自身和周边信息的管道，将成为物联网的一大应用领域。”用于监测哮喘和心脏健康的应用程序或服务就是很好的例子。

    弗格森表示，ARM的技术也开始被应用于可穿戴设备，比如头戴式设备以及智能手环等。“整个领域都将向前推进——可穿戴设备将成为整个体验中协调性更高的一部分。”

    更大的商机在于企业——联网设备可以被用来降低成本，提高效率。弗格森称，制造和油气勘探是两项极具潜力的应用范例。他表示：“许多企业都有价值极高的资产，而预防性机械服务能在机械发生故障前就检测到问题，从而提高效率。”

    在城市，采用嵌入式传感器技术有望提升公共照明和垃圾收集的效率。弗格森还特意列举了BigBelly Solar公司研制智能垃圾箱的成功范例。

    就连街边停车问题也有望通过物联网予以解决。弗格森表示：“在旧金山，有些区域的停车位可以检测出车位上是否有车，而且人们可以电话预订停车位，这很有效率。但是，如果城市有关部门得知某些地区的停车位常常被预订一空，它们或许可以在这些地区销售有价值的新服务。你甚至可能看到基于火爆程度做出的定价调整。这样做可能会引发争议。”

    同在加州的洛杉矶和伯克利等城市已经开始评估这项技术。

    比人的头发丝还要细

    针对这些问题，ARM推出了Cortex-M微处理器系列，这些以节能和微型著称的微处理器主要面向可穿戴技术和嵌入式应用。（举例来说，Cortex-M0+处理器就比人类头发丝的平均宽度还小。）

    今年六月，ARM宣布在台湾新竹成立一座专门研发这款微处理器的CPU设计中心。这也是该公司在亚洲成立的首个CPU设计中心。此外，ARM本月还在新加坡举办了一场物联网技术研讨会。

    ARM, the British company that makes instruction set architectures for computer processors, is certainly not a household name—not the way Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android are, anyway. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less ubiquitous. If you’ve got a smartphone in your pocket, there’s a good—no, make that very good—chance that it’s ARM-powered.

    The company’s microprocessor technology can now be found in more than 95 percent of the world’s smart handsets, it said, not to mention a sizable proportion of the smart TVs, wearables, gaming consoles, and automotive gadgetry. More than 50 billion ARM-based chips are out in the world right now, quietly powering much of the technological world.

    So what does a highly successful company do once it has reached the top? Find another mountain to climb. The frontier known as the “Internet of Things,” or IoT for short, continues to grow as more appliances, vehicles, machines, and objects gain wireless Internet access. The field is getting bigger every year, and ARM has already begun making inroads.

    “There’s a real opportunity here,” said Ian Ferguson, ARM’s vice president of segment marketing. “If we have technology embedded in a bunch of things, clearly there’s an opportunity to be more efficient. But the question also becomes how to improve quality of life.”

    There are now roughly 13 billion wirelessly connected devices in the world, according to Cisco estimates. By 2020, there will be more than 30 billion, ABI Research predicts. Revenue for technology and services pertaining to the Internet of Things is expected to reach $7.3 trillion by 2017. The future of the global technology market, it seems, is at stake.

    ‘It might be controversial’

    It can be difficult to describe ARM’s efforts for the Internet of Things because the company does not actually manufacture the chips for which it is known. Rather, it licenses its designs to a number of semiconductor companies, which in turn build chips based on them.

    AMD , Broadcom , and Qualcomm are among many licensees of ARM’s technology, which makes its way into consumers’ hands when original equipment manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, or Sony use those companies’ chips to create new phones, tablets and other devices.

    “You need a very different chip in a phone, a smart watch and a connected microwave oven,” Ferguson said. “We provide the core building blocks, and partners take the technology and harness it to connected things. It’s really that customization that’s key.”

    With such a strong presence on phones—consumers’ preferred gateway to the Internet today—ARM believes it is in a natural position to enable further connectivity.

    “Using the phone as a conduit for information about yourself and your surroundings will be a big area in the Internet of Things,” Ferguson said. Some examples? Apps or services for monitoring asthma and heart health.

    ARM’s technology is also finding its way into wearables such as headgear and smart bands, he noted. “That whole area is going to move forward—you’ll see those wearables become a more integrated part of the experience.”

    A larger opportunity lies in business, where connected devices are used to reduce cost and improve efficiency. Manufacturing and oil and gas exploration are two examples of applications with strong potential, Ferguson said. “You’ve got highly valued assets, so preventative mechanical services can help improve efficiency by detecting problems before they break down,” he added.

    In cities, public lighting and trash collection are functions that can be more effective through the use of embedded sensor technology. Ferguson cited the success of BigBelly Solar‘s intelligent trash receptacles as one example.

    Even street parking is covered. “In San Francisco, some areas have parking spaces that can detect if they’re empty or not, and you can book them on the phone—that’s an efficiency sort of play,” Ferguson said. “But if the city knows some areas are getting booked up more frequently, there might be new valuable services they could sell there. You might even see the pricing change based on availability. It might be controversial.”

    That technology is already under evaluation in several cities including Los Angeles and Berkeley, both in California.

    Narrower than a human hair

    ARM’s answer for all of this is its Cortex-M microprocessor series, which is notable for its energy efficiency and miniaturization and targets wearable technology and embedded applications. (The Cortex-M0+ processor, for instance, can fit within the width of the average human hair.)

    In June, the company announced the establishment of new CPU Design Center in Hsinchu, Taiwan—its first such center in Asia—which will be dedicated to the series. It also held an IoT Tech Seminar in Singapore this month.

    “I think ARM is going to play a big role in the Internet of Things,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst with The Linley Group. “It already offers a lot of good technology for very low-cost, low-power applications.”