Who are the top 10 best Internet of Things (IoT) processor vendors on the market? Is there such a leaderboard? How can I create an IoT processor that excels better than other vendors?
If we assume that the Internet of Things (IoT) market is taking off, we can also infer that the IoT processor is also keeping pace, and the semiconductor industry is doing its best. That's the case...What are the IoT processors? Is there a list of the top ten IoT processors in the market? How can we create an IoT processor that is more successful than other vendors?
The above is not an unreasonable problem; after all, the Internet of Things has become a popular fried chicken in the eyes of chip suppliers in the past few years. The home industry has rushed to launch the relevant product portfolio with the Internet of Things boom, while spare no effort to promote its growth potential.
In order to supplement the subject of the Internet of Things processor, the author began to try to discharge the list of the top ten IoT processors, but after discussing with more people and seeing more white papers and product news releases, the content I want to write became Even more unclear, I am not sure if the industry analyst can tell me who is the winner and who is the loser. I have already understood that there are several reasons why the market is not yet able to have a judging standard, so that it is difficult to list such top rankings as the “Top Ten IoT Processorsâ€.
First of all, the so-called IoT market—regardless of how you segment it—is not much different from the embedded systems market; of course, those “embedded†IoT devices are “networked†but just like micro-control MCU vendors have been worrying about how to serve the decentralized embedded market for decades, and IoT processor vendors are just as annoyed. The IoT market is so fragmented that it is difficult to find a processor winner.
Industry consolidation has caused manufacturers to clarify product strategies
Second, the chip industry has seen an unprecedented consolidation in the past year and a half, and is still continuing. As Tony Massimini, chief technology officer at market research firm Semico Research, said: “The industry consolidation that has taken place over the past two years is more than what we have experienced in the past two decades;†No wonder everything is still changing.
Massimini pointed out that when a chip manufacturer just acquired another company, it would usually be busy reviewing the new product lineup, comparing it with its own products, and trying to develop a new strategy. He took the acquisition of Atmel from Atmel's Microchip as an example. The two companies originally had several different MCU lines and connected products, and how they will clarify their positioning in the IoT market remains to be seen.
Cypress Semiconductor is another example. The company recently announced that it will acquire Broadcom's wireless Internet of Things (IoT) business for $550 million, including Broadcom's Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and Zigbee IoT product lines and IP, in addition to its WICED. Brand and development ecosystem... Moreover, Cypress acquired Spansion, an embedded flash memory supplier, last year. Prior to that, Spansion also acquired Fujitsu's MCU and analog products business through acquisition.
So, who knows how (or in a short time) Cypress will integrate new IoT products into the company's IoT processor strategy? At the same time, this acquisition means that Broadcom (the name of the company before the merger of Broadcom is Avago) is completely uninterested in the Internet of Things?
Unfortunately, on this issue, Broadcom declined the interview with EE TImes; Mike Demler, senior analyst at market research firm The Linley Group, pointed out that Broadcom announced in December last year the launch of the new 2.4GHz WICED series Bluetooth and 802.15.4 series products. It is very competitive with other Cortex-M4 core IoT chips on the market.
Broadcom is clearly the first company to announce a 40nm embedded flash memory process, which brings performance and integration advantages; of course, Broadcom has now sold WICED branded products to Cypress, Demler. Think: "It looks like the company will withdraw from the IoT business."
IoT processor definition chaos is unknown
The third reason is a very basic question. How do we define an "IoT processor"?
Demler said: "Our definition is that the so-called IoT processor must provide some level of built-in connectivity, even if only the wireless baseband;" The Linley Group from the standard embedded processor and MCU category Excludes many vendors' products called IoT processors, because these components have served non-networked applications for many years: "Therefore, the integration of wireless connectivity is a key difference."
Those components that lack built-in wireless connectivity may be integrating the processor with external RF components in a multi-chip package; but Demler said: "This approach increases cost, footprint, and potential power savings." And the external wireless chip may be from a third-party vendor, which will also bring support problems.
In addition, Demler also pointed out: "The use of embedded flash memory can reduce cost, chip size and power consumption, and implement Bluetooth or ZigBee communication protocol from the on-chip flash memory."
Both Massimini and Demler agree that integrating security features is a requirement; Demler said: "Wireless IoT processors must have software stacking to provide a complete solution." Massimini pointed out that if the NXP FTF Forum was held in the United States recently. Predicting any trend, IoT combined with security features will be the key to differentiated vendors such as NXP, because networking means security vulnerabilities, and anyone can see anything.
Sensor fusion
The fourth reason is, what is sensor fusion? In addition to networking, this feature makes the IoT processor different from a normal MCU, allowing the IoT processor to collect—and possibly even process—a large amount of data from different sensors. The question is: Is the IoT system vendor looking for a solution that works with the application processor (as a sensor hub)? Or what they want is a separate processor—can collect and process sensing data without the need for an application processor?
According to Linley Group's Demler, in addition to security, another important difference in IoT processor differentiation is: "Integrating the analog/mixed signal interface for processing sensors and actuators; and those that are more centered on digital technologies. Suppliers often lack high-performance analogy capabilities."
When it comes to sensor fusion, Massimini believes that the upcoming I3C specification of the MIPI Alliance will play a key role in future IoT processor design; the alliance has expanded the I2C interface as a MEMS and other types of sensors. The interface between the sensor hub or processor.
Peter Lefkin, managing director of MIPI Alliance, said that the I3C specification was developed in response to engineers' urgent need for a simple chip-to-chip interface that simplifies the integration of processors in product design; members involved in the development of this specification, including across the sensor field Various suppliers with mobile device ecosystems.
As for when I3C will be officially released? Lefkin expects that soon this year, once the MIPI Alliance officially adopted the specification, it will be quickly adopted by the industry. It's worth noting that MIPI's I3C doesn't just lock in the sensor's support for mobile devices, but also the Internet of Things and other low-power systems that are more bandwidth-rich but require fewer lines.
I3C's IP is ready for launch, and Synopsys announced at the end of April that it will immediately provide the industry's first MIPI I3C controller IP, simplifying the task of integrating diverse sensors into mobile devices, cars and the Internet of Things. Therefore, the heyday of the Internet of Things market is coming soon, I think; as for the top ten IoT processors? Let's wait a little longer!
Compilation: Judith Cheng
(Reference: Where Is Top 10 IoT Processor List?, by Junko Yoshida)
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