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Low Powered Mini ARM? It is Now Possible

Posted on 13. Feb, 2010 by Daniel Cawrey in News

University of Michigan researchers have made what will be a breakthrough in processing power for mobile computing – an ARM processor that is smaller than a penny and uses a miniscule amount of power. The energy requirement for this chip right now is provided by a small solar powered unit, and eventually could be derived by other sources such as the body heat of a human. The goal of this project is to develop monitoring devices for health purposes but I can see a bigger use for something like this in the technology industry.

For those who are not aware (I’m one of those) ARM is a company based in Cambridge that has a business based on the Qualcomm model – they don’t manufacture their products, they simply research, develop and license them to others for use in electronic products. You might be surprised to know that ARM processors are already in 95% of the mobile phones that we use. In fact, the current ARM products are so successful because they work on the idea that low enegy and low heat dissipation is the reason why we enjoy phones that don’t melt in our pockets the way that laptops do when they’re sitting on our legs.

So it comes to no surprise that the next generation of laptops, netbooks and smartbooks are probably going to be based on this technology. Qualcomm has already released their processor for the mobile computing market, dubbed the Snapdragon. Expect to see products being released in 2010 with these processors, because their power and heat use are low enough to not require a fan for releasing heat from the chassis of a mobile computer.

Of course, I expect that Intel will come out with something to combat ARM processors like the Snapdragon, as the most popular netbooks right now use their Atom architecture. But for the time being, ARM is going to be the way to go when looking at computers that are light and fast – which is the model for what Google’s Chrome OS is expected to run on. Don’t be surprised if initial machines running Chrome OS that hit the market are using ARM processors.

Also, think about the applications for a processor that small. While it may be far off, think about the implications of tablets that could theoretically unfold out of your pocket and provide all of the processing power that you would need.

What kind of applications could you develop for a platform like that?

You can read more about the University of Michigan research project right here.

Tags: ARM, Chrome OS, Google, netbook, Qualcomm, smartbook, smartphone, Snapdragon, tablet, University of Michigan