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Freescale's chip makes ordinary devices 'smart' by J. Craig Anderson - Mar. 20, 2012 04:45 PM The Republic | azcentral.com Phoenix-area microchip maker Freescale Inc. has developed a 32-bit microcontroller so cheap and powerful that it can turn literally any device into a computer-controlled "smart device," company officials said. It's being tested on street lamps, parking meters and various other everyday objects, they said. Known as the Kinetis L Series, the tiny computer chips are built around an architecture developed by ARM Holdings plc, a British technology company based in Cambridge. Freescale and ARM collaborated to develop the chips, which both companies said are ultra-efficient in terms of power consumption, cost and memory. Freescale is a Motorola spinoff based in Austin, but the company does much of its manufacturing in Chandler and Tempe. The chips have several times more processing capability than the 8-bit microcontrollers currently dominating the low-end market but cost the same and require 20 to 30 percent less memory, Freescale CEO Richard Beyer said. They are also much easier to program, Beyer said. The upshot is that Kinetis L Series chips are likely to show up in all sorts of devices not usually associated with high technology, such as kitchen appliances, power tools and toys, as well as commercial and industrial products, he said. And products that contained 8-bit chips in their previous generations are likely to get a lot smarter, Beyer said. Likely product improvements include touch-screen controls and the ability to communicate wirelessly with other devices, Beyer said. "Manufacturers will come up with all kinds of creative uses for these chips," he said. "They're consistently saying, 'If you give us more performance, we can use it to make better products.' " The first Kinetis L Series chips are being tested, Beyer said. The company plans to go into full-scale production in the fourth quarter. Reach the reporter at craig.anderson@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8681. |