Low-power embedded processor market demand strong

In 2010, various operating indicators of the semiconductor industry remained stable at a relatively high level, accompanied by a normal seasonal trend. There were different opinions about the expected shipment in 2011. My opinion is that the world economy has entered a global low-growth mode. In 2011, the overall semiconductor industry shipments will increase by roughly 5-10%.

As a company focused on the embedded market, Microchip has a strong client base of nearly 70,000, making Microchip products useful in almost all newly developed applications and markets. We can usually serve each application and market on a certain technical level.

Medical innovation provides good prospects for market development in 2011. In addition, due to the rapid increase in the production of new automobiles worldwide in 2010, the share of automotive semiconductors in the market will continue to grow. With the development of smart phones and the expansion of flat-panel products, the number of consumer mobile electronic devices has risen sharply. It is not difficult to predict that these will surely promote the continuous demand for embedded semiconductor products. The small size and rich functionality, low power consumption to extend battery life, and the use of more intuitive display technologies are all major requirements for the aforementioned applications.

If you carefully study the consumer electronics market, you will find that products that are prosperous in the market or are selling well can bring high-quality experiences to users. This is the case with iPhones and iPads. By investing less in consumer electronics, you can get the high-quality user experience you dream of. Similarly, the functionality and aesthetics of portable electronic products are also increasing, and the computing power is increasing. This places high demands on the power supply system. In general, these systems are battery-powered, in order to make the application have a long enough life, we must reduce the power consumption of the microcontroller (MCU).

Taking medical electronic equipment as an example, the most promising areas are home medical electronic instruments, including medical devices, applicators, and health managers. These systems help the user monitor and track some of the health parameters so that the user can observe any changes that may indicate a physical disorder. With the increasing popularity of electronic medical devices, some characteristics of semiconductor technology have become very important. To reiterate, low-power operation has long been an important parameter for semiconductor devices. All types of applications can benefit from low-power semiconductors. In medical devices, power consumption is the key to many advantages. For portable devices, the largest and heaviest components are usually batteries, and devices that consume large amounts of power require large batteries. With reduced power consumption, smaller batteries can be used, resulting in smaller devices. Instruments such as blood glucose meters need to be small and compact so that they are easy to carry; heart monitors are lighter to wear for days.

Microchip has a leading position in this field because of its ultra-low power (XLP) PIC microcontrollers. Microchip's XLP PIC MCUs offer extremely low operating and sleep currents. This allows designers to select increasingly sophisticated user interfaces and communication methods while still ensuring acceptable battery life.

However, low power consumption and high performance are always contradictory, and as such, both reducing power consumption and providing acceptable performance have been technical challenges faced by microcontroller vendors. The use of more advanced process technology will result in increased sleep current. Microchip introduced an ultra-low power PIC microcontroller with deep sleep mode to offset the effects of process leakage currents. The XLP technology allows Microchip to use more advanced processes to reduce run-time power consumption - providing the lowest total power consumption in the best process. Microchip has invested heavily in low-power technology and plans to continue investing in this area in the foreseeable future. We will continue to provide extremely high levels of technical support in all aspects of our customers' new product development cycles, helping them to shorten their time to market, develop their products in a low-risk environment, and reduce their total system costs.