Embedded Processors by the Numbers

by Jim Turley About zero percent of the world's microprocessors are used in computers. Yup. Every PC, Macintosh, en ineerin wor!station, Cray supercomputer, and all the other eneral" purpose computers put to ether account for less than #$ of all the microprocessors sold every year. %f you round off the fractions, embedded systems consume #&&$ of the worldwide production of microprocessors. 'on't believe it( Count how many computers you own or use. Probably one or two at wor! and another one or two at home, ri ht( %f you're a patholo ical computer user li!e me, that total mi ht reach closer to a dozen. )ow count the number of embedded systems you own or use, if you can. *ave a di ital cellular telephone( +here's one. A pa er( +here's another. 'on't for et to count your microwave oven, washer, dryer, dishwasher, coffee ma!er, refri erator, ,C-, television, video" ame console, stereo receiver, C' player, ',' player, portable 'iscman, remote control for the +,, remote for the ,C-, remote for the stereo, ara e"door opener, automatic sprin!ler timer, fa. machine, P'A, answerin machine, and so on. Chec! in the ara e. Your avera e car /classic 0ritish sports cars e.cepted1 has about #2 microprocessors in it. +he new Mercedes 3"class has 45 microprocessors6 a #777 0M8 9" series has 42. 8here are they all lur!in ( +here's one microprocessor in each headli ht of a new :e.us, 0M8, or Mercedes. +here's another one in each rear"view mirror. Airba s enerally each have their own microprocessor. +he ,olvo 39& has not one, but two CA) buses runnin throu h it, connectin the microprocessors in the mirrors with those in the doors with those in the transmission. +he mirrors tal! to the transmission so that they can tilt down and inwards when you put the car in reverse. +he radio tal!s with the antiloc! bra!es so that the volume can o up and down with road speed /the A03 has the most accurate speed information1. +he airba s tal! to the ;P3 receiver, which tal!s to the built"in cell phone so that if your new Cadillac ets in a serious accident it can call for help and report its e.act location. %f it's stolen, it can call the police and report e.actly where it is and where it's oin . % fi ure the avera e middle"class household has about <& to 2& microprocessors in it=or 22 if you own a PC. +here's the famous microprocessor on the motherboard, of course, but there's also one in every %0M PC !eyboard6 one on each floppy, hard, and C'"->M drive6 one on the 5' accelerator card6 and probably one each on your modem and your networ!"interface card. ?orce"feedbac! @oystic!s and wheels add even more, as do A30 peripherals, printers, 3C3% controllers, and Bip or tape drives. Even your video" ame console li!ely has multiple CPAs. 3e a's 3aturn ame player

has four different 5C"bit microprocessors in it. +he )intendo 4< has two6 the 3ony Play3tation has one. %ronically, their success seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of computin power each system has. ;ordon Moore predicted that the number of transistors one could fit on a iven amount of silicon would double about every #D months, and so far, he's been ri ht. Personally, % predict that the amount of computin power we carry on our person will double every #C months. As cellular telephones et more powerful, as pa ers become more capable, and as electronics or anizers and P'As become more useful, the amount of Epersonal M%P3E will double annually. /Another ironyF 8indows CE"based palm"size PCs have about #& times the processor horsepower of 5Com's Palm or anizer, yet they are noticeably slower.1 :ast year, microprocessor ma!ers built and sold almost C2& million 5C"bit embedded microprocessors. /3ourceF Micro'esi n -esources, Ganuary #7771 +hat's one new 5C" bit embedded CPA for every man, woman, and child livin in the Anited 3tates. +hat's also more than double the number of PCs sold around the world in the same year. 3een another way, Motorola sold almost as many 4D! chips to embedded customers as %ntel sold Pentium %% processors to PC ma!ers. *itachi's sales of 5C"bit chips outstripped AM''s PC sales by a two"to"one mar in. *ec!, even AM''s C7H processors /remember those(1 were more successful, on a per"unit basis, than %'+'s 8inChip used in PCs. Add to that C2& million 5C"bit chips the much reater number of #4"bit processors, estimated at over one billion per year. +hen add another billion ei ht"bit processors, and another billion four"bitters. 3uddenly, the #&& million PCs, Macs, wor!stations, and supercomputers don't seem li!e such a bi deal. 3o how come all the press and lory oes to %ntel and its PC competitors( *ow can a product with appro.imately &$ of the mar!et et so much attention( 8ell, %ntel may have a small slice of the overall pie, but it has the bi est slice of one very important pie. /As we've seen, %ntel does not control the microprocessor mar!et6 it controls the PC processor mar!et, a ma@or distinction that's freIuently lost on the si. o'cloc! news.1 )o other chip ma!er dominates one product cate ory, such as cell phones, printers, or video ames, the way %ntel dominates PCs. And no other chip ma!er ma!es the !ind of profit from these embedded systems that %ntel ets from its PC processors. 8e fi ure the Pentium %% costs %ntel about J42 to ma!e, vs. the JC&& to J2&& price ta these chips carry. /)ote that a <2&M*z Pentium %% costs no more to manufacture than the 52&M*z version6 they're the e.act same silicon.1 All of this, surprisin ly, is ood news for embedded

hardware developers. 8ith so much volume, and so many competitors all scramblin for your business, prices are low and selection is hi h. 8ith no dominant vendor dictatin pricin , competition is fierce. 8ith no sin le chip family cornerin compatibility, choices are many and varied. Embedded desi ners, re@oiceK Heep up the ood wor!. :et's see how we can add to that #&&$. Jim Turley is the senior editor of Microprocessor -eport . He is also a speaker and industry analyst, specializing in microprocessors for handheld, portable, and embedded applications