ARMpõhised

ARMpõhised refers to computer systems and processors that implement ARM architecture. ARM on a company level denotes a family of RISC-based instruction set architectures originally developed by ARM Holdings (now ARM Ltd.). The term commonly describes hardware that uses ARM cores or system-on-chips (SoCs) designed around ARM cores.

ARM licenses its processor designs to semiconductor manufacturers who integrate ARM cores into SoCs. Rather than selling finished CPUs, ARM provides core designs such as Cortex-M for microcontrollers, Cortex-R for real-time applications, and Cortex-A for general-purpose, high-performance processing. Manufacturers may customize the cores with their own microarchitectural enhancements, together with GPUs and other accelerators, to create products for specific markets.

Key features of ARM-based designs include energy efficiency, support for both 32-bit and 64-bit operation (for example, ARMv7-A and ARMv8-A families), and modular features such as the Thumb-2 instruction set, NEON SIMD extensions, and TrustZone security. The ecosystem emphasizes low power consumption, making ARM-based designs dominant in mobile devices, embedded systems, IoT, and wearables, with growing presence in automotive and data center contexts.

Industry impact and landscape: ARM-based CPUs are the leading choice in mobile and embedded sectors due to their efficiency and scalability. Notable developments include extensive use in smartphones, tablets, and various consumer electronics, as well as increasing deployment in servers and desktops through 64-bit ARM designs and Apple Silicon. Software support spans Linux, Android, Windows on ARM, and various real-time operating systems, contributing to a broad, interoperable ecosystem.