ARM reveals ultra low-power Cortex M0 chip
updated 07:30 am EST, Mon February 23, 2009
ARM Cortex M0 Processor
ARM on Monday rolled out the Cortex-M0 as its smallest and most energy-efficient processor design. The 32-bit chip is as featured as the earlier Cortex-M3 but has a small enough number of circuit gates and other optimizations that it consumes just 0.085mW of energy and is estimated to have a footprint the size of a much simpler 16-bit processor. The shift lets companies make small media and communication devices that need very little energy but which still need the same complexity as other processors.
No specific products using the M0 variant have been announced, though NXP and Triad are listed as some of the earliest customers. Other existing ARM licenses include Apple, Samsung, and others, though none of these have been publicly announced. Shipping products depend on licensees finishing their designs.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Nov 1999
Power consumption wrong
0.085mW of power (not energy) seemed awfully small to me, so I checked the ARM website. It says 0.085mW/MHz, so at 50MHz, the chip consumes 4.25mW.
Very low power indeed, all the same.