Where might you find an ARM?

The ARM processor is a powerful low-cost, efficient, low-power (consumption, that is) RISC processor. It's design was originally for the Archimedes desktop computer, but somewhat ironically numerous factors about its design make it unsuitable for use in a desktop machine (for example, the MMU and cache are the wrong way around). However, many factors about its design make it an exceptional choice for embedded applications.

So while many PCs can scream "Intel^(R) inside", there are a steadily increasing number of devices that could scream "ARM inside", only ARM doesn't have an ego anywhere near as large as Intel. Oh, and yes I am aware that Intel are fabricating ARM processors. Oh what a tangled web we weave...

[January 2002]

• Gameboy Advance games console
• Daewoo inet.top.box
• Bush Internet TV / box
• Datcom 2000 digital satellite receiver
• Pace digital satellite receiver (supplied as part of the Sky package)
• Numerous other digital cable / satellite receivers
• Hauppauge WinTV DVB-S PC TV card
• Oracle NC
• LG Java computer
• Millipede Apex Imager video board
• Paradise AiTV set top box
• Sony MZ-R90 minidisc
• Win-Jam
• JVC's digital camera 'Pixstar'
• Lexmark Z12/22/32/42/52 colour Jetprinter
• Samsung office laser printer
• Samsung SmartJet MFP (printer/scanner/copier/fax)
• Xerox colour inkjet printer
• Digital logic analyzers from Controlware
• IHU-2 Experimental Space Flight Computer
• Siemens video phone
• Wizcom's Quicktionary
• Various GSM handsets, from the likes of Alcatel, AEG, Ericsson, Kenwood, NEC, Nokia...
• Cable/ADSL modems, by manufacturers such as Caymen Systems, D-Link, and Zoom.
• 3Com 3CD990-TX-97 10/100 PCI NIC with 3XP processor
• Routers, bus adaptors, servers, crypto, gateways...
• POS systems
• Smart cards
• Adaptec PCI to Ultra2 SCSI 64 bit RAID controller
• ATA drive electronics controller systems (bare)
• Iomega HipZip digital audio player
• C pen, with OCR and IrDA
• HP/Ericsson/Compaq pocket PCs
• Psion series 5 hand-held PC (5mx used 36MHz ARM710T)
• Various PDAs

• And, of course, all of us using Archimedes / BBC (A30x0) / NetStation / RiscPC / A7000 / Mico / RiscStation computers!!!

This is not a complete list. Visit http://www.arm.com/ for a full list, with links to each item.

The above may not use ARM processors, but other hardware produced by ARM. It is rather difficult to discover what it actually inside half of these things, without owning one and taking it apart!

A site that gives images and interesting background information is the details of the IHU-2 experimental space flight computer .