????林利集團(tuán)（The Linley Group）首席分析師林利?葛文那普表示：“我認(rèn)為ARM將在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)中扮演重要角色,。該公司已經(jīng)為低成本,、低功率的應(yīng)用提供了很多好技術(shù)?！?/p>

????對ARM有利的是,，該公司擁有大量合作伙伴。葛文那普表示：“這是一個需要大量創(chuàng)新才能撬開的新市場,。ARM及其合作伙伴在這方面有優(yōu)勢,。”

????不過,，ARM也可能面臨它在自己主宰的智能手機(jī)市場不曾遇到的挑戰(zhàn),。葛文那普指出，“所有智能手機(jī)想要運(yùn)行的軟件都大同小異,?！倍锫?lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備可能不一樣?！芭e例來說,，在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)中,，我認(rèn)為我們不會看到在燈泡上運(yùn)行的應(yīng)用,。這一領(lǐng)域?qū)⒏叨鄻有裕渌緦⒂懈鄼C(jī)會參與其中,?！?/p>

????這些公司中就包括英特爾（Intel）。作為領(lǐng)先的微處理器公司,，英特爾加大物聯(lián)網(wǎng)技術(shù)的研發(fā)力度,，專門成立物聯(lián)網(wǎng)事業(yè)部，下設(shè)部門分別致力于零售,、運(yùn)輸,、制造和工業(yè)應(yīng)用，以及智能家居和建筑等行業(yè)的研發(fā)工作,。

????英特爾物聯(lián)網(wǎng)部門副總裁埃里克?弗里表示：“我們認(rèn)為物聯(lián)網(wǎng)是一個巨大的轉(zhuǎn)型機(jī)遇,。根據(jù)我們的預(yù)測，未來將出現(xiàn)數(shù)以十億計(jì)的智能聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備,，究其根本,，這些設(shè)備將把各種企業(yè)和工業(yè)環(huán)境的數(shù)據(jù)帶入云端，從而將啟動大量的業(yè)務(wù)轉(zhuǎn)型,?！?/p>

????弗里稱，英特爾的夸克（Quark）,、凌動（Atom）,、酷睿（Core）和至強(qiáng)（Xeon）等微處理器系列都將在物聯(lián)網(wǎng)中發(fā)揮各自的作用,。他補(bǔ)充道，英特爾還在努力提升安全和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)——該公司策劃建立了工業(yè)互聯(lián)網(wǎng)聯(lián)盟（Industrial Internet Consortium）——并塑造圍繞這項(xiàng)主題的公共政策,。

????“我們才觸及表面”

????當(dāng)然,，ARM也非常想確定行業(yè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。該公司宣稱,，其芯片設(shè)計(jì)不僅能啟動物聯(lián)網(wǎng)設(shè)備,，還能避免它所說的“筒倉網(wǎng)（Internet of Silos）”，即產(chǎn)生的數(shù)據(jù)無法由各家服務(wù)供應(yīng)商共享,。

????弗格森表示：“顯然,，我們整個行業(yè)需要上下一心，審視所有設(shè)備是如何互聯(lián),，并合理地傳達(dá)信息,。除安全性外，我們還必須制定標(biāo)準(zhǔn),?！?/p>

????出于這一目的，ARM一直深度參與6LoWPAN等技術(shù)規(guī)范的確定,，后者涉及低功率設(shè)備網(wǎng)絡(luò),、如今盛行的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)協(xié)議以及約束應(yīng)用協(xié)議（CoAP，一項(xiàng)專門針對簡單電子設(shè)備的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)協(xié)議）之間的互操作性,，他說,。

????高德納公司（Gartner）調(diào)研總監(jiān)阿方索?韋羅薩稱：“我認(rèn)為他們對所有半導(dǎo)體公司而言都是一大助力。物聯(lián)網(wǎng)需要低功率以及調(diào)動各種程序員的能力,。ARM提供了一門公用語言,。”

????韋羅薩稱,，微芯片,、軟件和“很好的生態(tài)系統(tǒng)”三管齊下，ARM將繼續(xù)打造物聯(lián)網(wǎng)不斷提升的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和架構(gòu),。

????弗格森表示：“很多人都認(rèn)為,，物聯(lián)網(wǎng)不過就是智能冰箱和烤面包機(jī)。事實(shí)上,，更大的商機(jī)在于如何改善人們的生活,。而說到好的技術(shù)能有何作為，我們的研究還停留在表面,?！?財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))

????譯者：項(xiàng)航

????Working in the company’s favor: a wide array of partners. “This being a new market, it will require a lot of innovation to get started,” Gwennap said. “ARM and its partners have a leg up.”

????Still, ARM may confront challenges that it wouldn’t otherwise face in the smartphone market it dominates. “All smartphones want to run pretty much the same software,” Gwennap said. Internet of Things devices may not work the same way. “In the IoT, I don’t think we’ll see apps running on a lightbulb, for example. There will be more diversity there, and more opportunity for other companies to play a role.”

????One of those companies: Intel. The leading microprocessor company has been ramping up its efforts for the Internet of Things, including establishing an IoT subgroup with sectors devoted to retail, transportation, manufacturing and industrial applications, and smart homes and buildings.

????“We believe the IoT is a huge transformational opportunity,” said Eric Free, a vice president within Intel’s Internet of Things subgroup. “We expect there will be billions and billions of intelligent connected devices that will essentially bring data from a variety of business and industrial environments into the cloud and unlock a ton of business transformations.”

????Intel’s Quark, Atom, Core, and Xeon lines of microprocessors are each playing a role in the Internet of Things, Free said. The company is also working to promote security and standards—it helped found the Industrial Internet Consortium—and shape public policy around the topic, he added.

????‘We’re only just scratching the surface’

????ARM is also concerned about standardization, of course. The company pitches its chip designs as a way not only to enable Internet of Things devices, but also as a way to avoid what it calls the “Internet of Silos,” where data is created but not shared among service providers.

????“Clearly what we need to do as an industry across verticals is look at how all these things connect together and communicate information in a sensible way,” Ferguson said. “Besides security, we have to work on standards.”

????Toward that end, ARM has been heavily involved in efforts such as 6LoWPAN, which concerns the interoperability of networks of low-power devices and today’s dominant Internet protocol, and the Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP), an Internet protocol tailored to simple electronics, he said.

????“I think they are being a fantastic enabler to all the semiconductor companies,” said Alfonso Velosa III, a research director with Gartner. “The Internet of Things requires low power and an ability to enable a broad variety of programmers. ARM has provided a common language.”

????With a three-pronged approach—microchips, software, and “a very good ecosystem,” Velosa said—ARM will continue to shape the evolving standards and architecture of the Internet of Things.

????“A lot of people think the Internet of Things is just smart refrigerators and toasters,” Ferguson said. “The bigger opportunity is, how do you improve people’s lives? We’re only just scratching the surface on what technology for good can do.”