VDC Research recently launched the infrastructure development phase of our 2010 edition of our Embedded Processors market intelligence program. This year, we will be concentrating on, and attempting to reconcile, two of the most powerful trends in the embedded processing platform marketplace: solution stability and platform migration.
The root of our work on embedded processing platforms has always been the embedded CPU market segment. And while we have looked at competing and complementary technologies consistently over the years, 2010 will be the year that we dive a little deeper into a number of processing platform alternatives and complements to embedded CPUs.
Specifically, we will be looking at where, why and how embedded systems developers are evaluating and selecting among and between embedded CPUs, DSPs, FPGAs, MCUs and associated processor IP segments. While it is not knew for us to provide coverage of these markets, including platform-specific analysis in leading CPU segments, this year we will be bringing that depth to other technical segments as well. Perhaps more importantly, we will be complementing our analysis WITHIN technical segments, with analyses of issues, forces and trends ACROSS technical segments.
Examples of issues that we will exploring include:
1. Migration within the CPU segment to lower-power platforms. This trend is not new in some segments. Harder to believe in others. Embedded systems developers are constantly looking demand lower power processors. And since the green movement and the recession begin touching the embedded markets, power management only became more acute. We expect that power management will continue to occupy top tier placement on embedded roadmaps for the next 2 or 3 design cycles.
In the CPU segments, Intel ATOM will battle ARM head-to-head in the gray areas between deeply embedded systems and commercial grade (and consumer) applications. VIA Embedded and AMD will likely invest heavily in technical support for market expansion behind their Nano/ C7/ Eden and Geode lines respectively. And Freescale will launch new methods of defending its core communications infrastructure and military/ defense/ aerospace positions against incursion of X86 platforms.
In the FPGA segment, suppliers are going so far as to implement MCU cores inside their FPGAs for provide more powerful and lower power alternatives.
2. FPGA adoption is expanding ... rapidly. The advent of lower-power FPGAs implementing soft CPU cores has been fairly well covered at the highest level. However, as we cover the market bottom up ... application by application ... we see this happening more broadly, and more rapidly than most of the published analysis and commentary recognizes.
The breadth is so expansive, and the pace to rapid, that we are advising the majority of our clients to begin framing -- if they have not already -- their FPGA strategies. And where our clients are investing to take advantage of FPGA migration, we are advising them to consider this opportunity on of few that might be worth an aggressive stance.
Every project we have supported over the past two years supports our view that FPGA migration is, or will be, an important part of post-recession market development in a number of embedded market segments.
As part of our last syndicated Embedded Processors program, we built a sample of more than 200 extremely highly qualified embedded system engineering manager survey respondents. The rate of investment to support investigation of FPGA migration was 45% for DSP or ASIC users, and more than 51% for CPU users.
The 2010 Embedded Hardware Market Intelligence program expanded the aforementioned sample to over 400 extremely qualified respondents. Sample findings from that work included a virtual doubling in the expected rate of adoption of FPGA with soft CPU cores during the next 5 years. In some verticals and applications, the rate of growth was even faster.
The embedded systems markets continue to offer exceptional growth and margin opportunities for those rare embedded technology suppliers that can provide their customers with accurate, rapid migration support, and bulletproof solution stability that their customers demand.
For more information on this program, please visit: http://www.vdcresearch.com/market_research/embedded_hardware/product_detail.aspx?productid=2637
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