Life in the old dog yet
1 min read
Slowly, but surely, the industry is transitioning to 32bit microcontrollers. Companies such as Freescale have stopped developing 8bit and 16bit devices in favour of Cortex-M0+ based mcus which, it claims, bring better performance and capabilities at the same price.
Yet demand remains strong for simple mcus. According to some researchers, these parts could still represent close to a quarter of mcu revenues in 2017. The reason is simple: you don't need a 32bit microcontroller in your toaster.
Ixys' recent acquisition of Samsung's 4 and 8bit mcu business shows the sector is anything but moribund. The $50million deal brings Ixys a range of products and IP. And Ixys isn't doing it for sentimental reasons – it expects the deal to pay for itself quickly. Interestingly, Ixys also owns microcontroller pioneer Zilog, famous for Z8/Z80 devices, and may use the Samsung cores/IP as an upgrade. Ixys also plans to use the mcus in its mixed signal ics and in its power semiconductors
But why would it want such seemingly low tech devices in an increasingly high tech world? Here's just a few applications which the devices target –home appliances, consumer electronics, lcds, battery chargers, thermostats, boiler control, microwaves, e-bikes, LED lighting, power meters, blood pressure meters and smoke detectors.
There is, apparently, life in the old dog yet.
