ARM

The ARM architecture, previously, the Advanced RISC Machine, is a 32-bit RISC processor architecture developed by ARM Limited that is widely used in embedded designs. Because of their power saving features, ARM CPUs are dominant in the mobile electronics market, where low power consumption is a critical design goal. As of 2007, about 98 percent of the more than a billion mobile phones sold each year use at least one ARM CPU.

Today, the ARM family accounts for approximately 90% of all embedded 32-bit RISC CPUs. ARM CPUs are found in most corners of consumer electronics from portable devices (PDAs, mobile phones, iPods and other media players, handheld gaming units and calculators) to computer peripherals (hard drives, desktop routers). However, since the decline of ARM Ltd’s former parent company Acorn Computers, it no longer designs chips oriented towards desktop or main processor functions and has never been used in a supercomputer or cluster. Prominent branches in this family include Marvell’s (formerly Intel’s) XScale, the ST-Ericsson’s (formerly ST Microelectronics) NOMADIK series and the Texas Instruments OMAP series.

The ARM architecture is the most widely used 32-bit CPU architecture in the world. The ARM architecture is used in about 75% of all 32 bit processors sold.