????作為一家為計(jì)算機(jī)處理器生產(chǎn)指令集構(gòu)架的英國(guó)公司，ARM絕對(duì)算不上家喻戶曉,，至少?zèng)]有蘋果（Apple）的iPhone和谷歌（Google）的Android那么出名,。但是，ARM與iPhone和Android一樣無(wú)處不在,。如果你兜里揣著一部智能手機(jī),，很有可能——不對(duì)，是極有可能——它的芯片是ARM出品,。

????ARM表示,，目前全球95％以上的智能手機(jī)都在采用該公司的微處理器技術(shù),，更不用提相當(dāng)比例的智能電視,、可穿戴設(shè)備、游戲機(jī)和汽車配件了,。目前,，500多億塊基于ARM設(shè)計(jì)的芯片在默默地為大半個(gè)科技界提供動(dòng)力。

????在某個(gè)領(lǐng)域登峰造極后,，一家極度成功的公司該何去何從,？自然是另找一座高峰去攀登。隨著更多的家電,、汽車,、機(jī)器和其它物品連入無(wú)線網(wǎng)，“物聯(lián)網(wǎng)”的疆域越來(lái)越大,。這個(gè)領(lǐng)域年年都在擴(kuò)張,，而ARM已經(jīng)開(kāi)始出擊。

????ARM公司負(fù)責(zé)細(xì)分市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷的副總裁伊恩?弗格森表示：“這一領(lǐng)域確實(shí)有大把機(jī)會(huì),。如果我們將技術(shù)廣泛應(yīng)用到各類設(shè)備中,，顯然就有機(jī)會(huì)提高效率,。但問(wèn)題也變成了如何提高生活質(zhì)量?！?/p>

????據(jù)思科公司（Cisco）估算,，目前全球約有130億部無(wú)線聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備。ABI Research預(yù)測(cè),，到2020年,，這個(gè)數(shù)字將超過(guò)300億。到2017年,，與物聯(lián)網(wǎng)相關(guān)的技術(shù)和服務(wù)收入預(yù)計(jì)將達(dá)到7.3萬(wàn)億美元,。這似乎關(guān)系到全球科技市場(chǎng)的未來(lái)。

????‘這可能具有爭(zhēng)議性’

????要描述ARM在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)方面的努力有些困難,，因?yàn)檫@家舉世聞名的芯片公司本身并不制造芯片,，而是將自己的設(shè)計(jì)授權(quán)給一些半導(dǎo)體公司，由它們來(lái)生產(chǎn)基于ARM設(shè)計(jì)的芯片,。

????獲得授權(quán)使用ARM技術(shù)的公司包括AMD,、博通（Broadcom）和高通（Qualcomm）等。三星（Samsung）,、宏達(dá)電（HTC）,、索尼（Sony）等原始設(shè)備制造商（OEM）則使用上述公司的芯片制造新手機(jī)、平板以及其他設(shè)備,，ARM的技術(shù)就是通過(guò)這種途徑進(jìn)入消費(fèi)者的手中,。

????弗格森表示：“手機(jī)、智能手表和聯(lián)網(wǎng)微波爐所需的芯片極為不同,。我們提供核心模塊,，合作伙伴采取我們的技術(shù)，并將其用于聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備,。關(guān)鍵在于定制,。”

????鑒于ARM在手機(jī)市場(chǎng)占據(jù)主導(dǎo)地位,，而手機(jī)又是消費(fèi)者首選的聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備,，該公司認(rèn)為它在推動(dòng)互聯(lián)互通方面處于有利地位。

????弗格森說(shuō)道：“把手機(jī)用作獲得自身和周邊信息的管道,，將成為物聯(lián)網(wǎng)的一大應(yīng)用領(lǐng)域,。”用于監(jiān)測(cè)哮喘和心臟健康的應(yīng)用程序或服務(wù)就是很好的例子,。

????弗格森表示,，ARM的技術(shù)也開(kāi)始被應(yīng)用于可穿戴設(shè)備，比如頭戴式設(shè)備以及智能手環(huán)等?！罢麄€(gè)領(lǐng)域都將向前推進(jìn)——可穿戴設(shè)備將成為整個(gè)體驗(yàn)中協(xié)調(diào)性更高的一部分,。”

????更大的商機(jī)在于企業(yè)——聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備可以被用來(lái)降低成本,，提高效率,。弗格森稱，制造和油氣勘探是兩項(xiàng)極具潛力的應(yīng)用范例,。他表示：“許多企業(yè)都有價(jià)值極高的資產(chǎn),，而預(yù)防性機(jī)械服務(wù)能在機(jī)械發(fā)生故障前就檢測(cè)到問(wèn)題，從而提高效率,?！?/p>

????在城市，采用嵌入式傳感器技術(shù)有望提升公共照明和垃圾收集的效率,。弗格森還特意列舉了BigBelly Solar公司研制智能垃圾箱的成功范例,。

????就連街邊停車問(wèn)題也有望通過(guò)物聯(lián)網(wǎng)予以解決。弗格森表示：“在舊金山,，有些區(qū)域的停車位可以檢測(cè)出車位上是否有車,，而且人們可以電話預(yù)訂停車位，這很有效率,。但是,，如果城市有關(guān)部門得知某些地區(qū)的停車位常常被預(yù)訂一空，它們或許可以在這些地區(qū)銷售有價(jià)值的新服務(wù),。你甚至可能看到基于火爆程度做出的定價(jià)調(diào)整,。這樣做可能會(huì)引發(fā)爭(zhēng)議?！?/p>

????同在加州的洛杉磯和伯克利等城市已經(jīng)開(kāi)始評(píng)估這項(xiàng)技術(shù),。

????比人的頭發(fā)絲還要細(xì)

????針對(duì)這些問(wèn)題，ARM推出了Cortex-M微處理器系列,，這些以節(jié)能和微型著稱的微處理器主要面向可穿戴技術(shù)和嵌入式應(yīng)用,。（舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，Cortex-M0+處理器就比人類頭發(fā)絲的平均寬度還小,。）

????今年六月，ARM宣布在臺(tái)灣新竹成立一座專門研發(fā)這款微處理器的CPU設(shè)計(jì)中心,。這也是該公司在亞洲成立的首個(gè)CPU設(shè)計(jì)中心,。此外，ARM本月還在新加坡舉辦了一場(chǎng)物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)研討會(huì),。

????ARM, the British company that makes instruction set architectures for computer processors, is certainly not a household name—not the way Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android are, anyway. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less ubiquitous. If you’ve got a smartphone in your pocket, there’s a good—no, make that very good—chance that it’s ARM-powered.

????The company’s microprocessor technology can now be found in more than 95 percent of the world’s smart handsets, it said, not to mention a sizable proportion of the smart TVs, wearables, gaming consoles, and automotive gadgetry. More than 50 billion ARM-based chips are out in the world right now, quietly powering much of the technological world.

????So what does a highly successful company do once it has reached the top? Find another mountain to climb. The frontier known as the “Internet of Things,” or IoT for short, continues to grow as more appliances, vehicles, machines, and objects gain wireless Internet access. The field is getting bigger every year, and ARM has already begun making inroads.

????“There’s a real opportunity here,” said Ian Ferguson, ARM’s vice president of segment marketing. “If we have technology embedded in a bunch of things, clearly there’s an opportunity to be more efficient. But the question also becomes how to improve quality of life.”

????There are now roughly 13 billion wirelessly connected devices in the world, according to Cisco estimates. By 2020, there will be more than 30 billion, ABI Research predicts. Revenue for technology and services pertaining to the Internet of Things is expected to reach $7.3 trillion by 2017. The future of the global technology market, it seems, is at stake.

????‘It might be controversial’

????It can be difficult to describe ARM’s efforts for the Internet of Things because the company does not actually manufacture the chips for which it is known. Rather, it licenses its designs to a number of semiconductor companies, which in turn build chips based on them.

????AMD , Broadcom , and Qualcomm are among many licensees of ARM’s technology, which makes its way into consumers’ hands when original equipment manufacturers like Samsung, HTC, or Sony use those companies’ chips to create new phones, tablets and other devices.

????“You need a very different chip in a phone, a smart watch and a connected microwave oven,” Ferguson said. “We provide the core building blocks, and partners take the technology and harness it to connected things. It’s really that customization that’s key.”

????With such a strong presence on phones—consumers’ preferred gateway to the Internet today—ARM believes it is in a natural position to enable further connectivity.

????“Using the phone as a conduit for information about yourself and your surroundings will be a big area in the Internet of Things,” Ferguson said. Some examples? Apps or services for monitoring asthma and heart health.

????ARM’s technology is also finding its way into wearables such as headgear and smart bands, he noted. “That whole area is going to move forward—you’ll see those wearables become a more integrated part of the experience.”

????A larger opportunity lies in business, where connected devices are used to reduce cost and improve efficiency. Manufacturing and oil and gas exploration are two examples of applications with strong potential, Ferguson said. “You’ve got highly valued assets, so preventative mechanical services can help improve efficiency by detecting problems before they break down,” he added.

????In cities, public lighting and trash collection are functions that can be more effective through the use of embedded sensor technology. Ferguson cited the success of BigBelly Solar‘s intelligent trash receptacles as one example.

????Even street parking is covered. “In San Francisco, some areas have parking spaces that can detect if they’re empty or not, and you can book them on the phone—that’s an efficiency sort of play,” Ferguson said. “But if the city knows some areas are getting booked up more frequently, there might be new valuable services they could sell there. You might even see the pricing change based on availability. It might be controversial.”

????That technology is already under evaluation in several cities including Los Angeles and Berkeley, both in California.

????Narrower than a human hair

????ARM’s answer for all of this is its Cortex-M microprocessor series, which is notable for its energy efficiency and miniaturization and targets wearable technology and embedded applications. (The Cortex-M0+ processor, for instance, can fit within the width of the average human hair.)

????In June, the company announced the establishment of new CPU Design Center in Hsinchu, Taiwan—its first such center in Asia—which will be dedicated to the series. It also held an IoT Tech Seminar in Singapore this month.

????“I think ARM is going to play a big role in the Internet of Things,” said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst with The Linley Group. “It already offers a lot of good technology for very low-cost, low-power applications.”