Melfas Chooses Arm Cortex-M0 Processor For Capacitive Touch Screen Controllers

ARM and Melfas, a leader in capacitive-sensing touch input solutions, today announced that Melfas has chosen the ARM Cortex-M0 processor and ARM physical IP libraries for their future controller ICs for capacitive touch screen solutions.

“The ultra low power and gate count of the Cortex-M0 processor, combined with its 32-bit performance efficiency, makes it an ideal choice for mobile touch screen applications supporting increasing panel sizes,” said B.W. Lee, CEO, Melfas. “This upgrade from our previous 8051-based solution will enable us to deliver a competitive advantage in the energy efficiency, precision and cost effectiveness of our products.”

Melfas has many years’ expertise in designing turnkey touch screen module solutions including controller IC, circuitry, driver software, and patterned ITO panel with window lens and test system. It has shipped over 40 million controller ICs since 2006. According to market research firm, DisplaySearch, the total touch screen module market will grow from $3.6 billion in 2008 to $9 billion by 2015, with a CAGR of 14 per cent.

Our engineers were already familiar with the Keil software development tools, which support both 8051 and ARM Cortex-M0 processor-based devices, said D.J. Min, VP Engineering, Melfas. We were able to quickly and easily evaluate the new processor using our existing 8051 code base. The results demonstrated that we could halve the flash memory requirement using the Cortex-M0 processor, and reduce the MHz requirement by 5x, saving power.”

“The use of touch screen controllers in products ranging from mobile phones, personal media players, digital cameras, navigation devices, to home appliances is rapidly increasing. The Cortex-M0 processor’s energy efficiency and small size make it particularly suited for these applications,” said Eric Schorn, VP marketing, Processor Division, ARM. “The agreement with Melfas is a further endorsement of the Cortex-M family of low power processors and ARM physical IP, and demonstrates ARM’s low power leadership.”

The Cortex-M0 processor is the lowest power and smallest 32-bit ARM processor. It offers an optimal blend of ultra low-power, energy efficiency and low gate count, with binary upwards compatibility with the higher performance ARM Cortex-M3. This makes it an ideal next step for embedded applications that outgrow legacy 8-bit microcontrollers, skipping the need for 16-bit devices.

In addition to the Cortex–M0 processor, Melfas will incorporate a suite of ARM foundry sponsored physical IP consisting of embedded memories and logic libraries optimized for maximum energy efficiency. ARM’s ability to deliver processor IP and Physical IP in parallel ensures complete integration of complementary IP, enabling the development of performance driven consumer devices requiring advanced functionality without increasing power consumption.