Last year, we witnessed PC processor makers like Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. upping the ante in the embedded space. They stepped up their efforts to position their general-purpose processors to serve sizable markets for embedded applications such as industrial control, information kiosks, POS terminals, media and storage servers, and security appliances.

The obvious benefits of cost and software compatibility with PC-based applications have made the x86 architecture a value proposition for the fast-growing, low-cost embedded computing markets in China and India. In fact, Taiwan's Via Technologies Inc. sells more of its x86 processors for embedded applications than for PCs.

Via, along with iGoLogic Inc., has recently launched the JBox, an embedded x86 system based on the Via EPIA M10000 mainboard, for developing Java 2, Standard Edition (J2SE) embedded applications.

The fact that Intel and other x86 chipmakers could use their custom CPUs to provide simple, low-cost solutions for PC-like applications has led to a renewed interest in the embedded design segment. But the embedded x86 fervor is rooted in markets that seek software compatibility with PC-like applications.

Moreover, as they are optimized for PC or server applications, a number of features in general-purpose embedded processors come with legacy software that burns extra power, but isn't generally required in an embedded system.

On the other hand, most networking and consumer applications have strict limits on heat and board space. This technology paradox became the central theme at the first Freescale Technology Forum in Florida, where the silicon vendor affirmed its embedded-only status while shifting focus away from PowerPC architecture.

Freescale Semiconductor Inc. asserted that it will leverage the consumer electronics opportunity, while its senior execs were quick to point to Asia as their main shopping mall for high-volume SoCs for digital consumer products. And they said that the firm will continue its focus on the highly fragmented embedded markets for telecom, networking, automotive and storage systems.

Freescale execs said that next-generation embedded processors will be distinguished more by the peripherals and memory subsystems they integrate than the speed and number of their cores. Discrete microprocessor architectures like x86 and PowerPC lack integrated peripherals, as they are optimized for PCs or servers.

Asia, which according to Freescale is the prime destination of its embedded processors for consumer electronics, is lately getting action of its own. Wipro Technologies Ltd, one of the largest providers of embedded and product engineering services, has licensed MIPS Technologies Inc.'s 32bit and 64bit synthesizable processor cores to support joint customers with end-to-end SoC design services.

Also in Bangalore, Toshiba has acquired Socrates Software India, an embedded and reusable software component developer for digital consumer and personal communications applications.

The two distinct directions for embedded processors outlined here are crucial to the embedded design industry in Asia. General-purpose embedded processors from Intel and the like indeed facilitate lower design costs, an important consideration in the region, especially for low-volume embedded systems.

But Asia, at the same time, is taking the center-stage for digital consumer design, for which high-volume SoCs are the name of the game. It seems that, for a foreseeable future, both options will remain viable to Asian embedded designers.

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