Luminary Micro Announces DesignStellaris2006 Design Contest With $10,000 in Prizes

Luminary Micro Announces DesignStellaris2006 Design Contest With $10,000 in Prizes

October 05, 2006

Circuit Cellar Magazine and Keil Join as Sponsors of First
Design Contest Utilizing ARM Cortex-M3 Microcontrollers

    AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 5 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Luminary
Micro (http://www.luminarymicro.com ) a fabless
semiconductor company that designs, markets, and sells
ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-M3 processor-based microcontrollers and
was the first to bring ARM processor-based MCUs for $1.00
to embedded developers, together with Circuit Cellar
magazine and Keil, announces the launch of the
DesignStellaris2006 design contest for the Stellaris family
of microcontrollers -- the world's first silicon
implementation of the ARM Cortex-M3 processor.  Entries are
being accepted today to coincide with the opening of the ARM
Developers' Conference in Santa Clara, California
(http://www.arm.com/developersconference/ ). The contest
will close 
February 7, 2007. There is no purchase necessary to enter.


    Top embedded engineers worldwide can vie for the chance
to compete with each other for more than US $10,000 in cash
prizes using any microcontroller in Luminary Micro's
Stellaris family of ARM Cortex-M3 processor-based
controllers with the ARM RealView(R) Microcontroller
Development Kit 
(MDK-ARM).  To enable designers to quickly develop
applications for the contest, Luminary Micro and Keil have
developed the Stellaris LM3S811 Evaluation Kit with MDK-ARM
evaluation software (ordering part number EKK-LM3S811).  The
evaluation kits are available for use through VirtuaLabs
"try before you buy" technology
(http://www.luminarymicro.com/home/try_before_you_buy.html
). The kits will also be made available FREE to each
entrant, while supplies last.

    Contest winners will be announced at the Embedded
Systems Show Silicon Valley, April 3-5, 2007. Complete
details of the contest can be found at
http://www.LuminaryMicro.com/DesignStellaris2006 .

    "We're excited about this opportunity to showcase
the versatility of the Stellaris family of
microcontrollers, as well as the ARM Cortex-M3
processor," said Luminary Micro Chief Marketing
Officer Jean Anne Booth.  "Since the introduction of
Stellaris' 32-bit performance at 8/16-bit cost in March, we
have been emphasizing that Stellaris is the performance
product for serious microcontroller applications.  We are
impressed by the applications that our customers are
designing with Stellaris microcontrollers, but now the rest
of the world can see public innovation occur in real designs
by top designers.

    "Circuit Cellar has long been predicting a move
toward 'More Bits, Less Bucks,' so they were a natural
partner for this contest," Booth continued. "With
the ARM architecture and development support, the Stellaris
family provides the entry into the industry's strongest
ecosystem, with code compatibility ranging from $1.00 to 1
GHz." 

    Luminary Micro, a member of the ARM Connected
Community, was a lead Partner in the development of the
Cortex-M3 processor, and has the only silicon
implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor available on the
open market today.  The Stellaris family of
microcontrollers currently contains 19 feature-rich
microcontrollers, supported by cost-effective development
kits and low-cost evaluation kits. The kits include
evaluation copies of the popular ARM RealView development
tools along with documentation; the Stellaris peripheral
driver library that provides an easy programming interface
to Stellaris peripherals; and example code, all packaged in
an easy-to-use format that has engineers up and running in
10 minutes or less. 

    "Certainly Luminary Micro caught worldwide
attention in March with its announcement of 32-bit MCUs for
$1.00, as well as being the first to market with the
Cortex-M3 processor," said Steve Ciarcia, Editorial
Director and Circuit Cellar founder. "The Cortex-M3
processor's fast interrupt response and other
embedded-friendly features, as well as the Thumb(R)-2
instruction set with 16- and 32-bit instructions, should
appeal to embedded designers. This design contest offers
them a chance to take it out for a spin themselves, and for
us to see some creative results."

    Embedded system developers prefer the ARM architecture.
With an ARM processor-based embedded market that is
currently shipping at a rate of greater than 2.3 billion
processors per year, the ARM ecosystem of silicon, tools,
software, hardware, systems, and support is the largest in
the world. 

    According to Wayne Lyons, director of Embedded
Solutions, ARM, DesignStellaris2006 offers a prime
opportunity to showcase Stellaris microcontrollers and the
exceptional features of the Cortex-M3 processor.

    "As the world's first silicon implementation of
the Cortex-M3 processor, it is fitting that Luminary
Micro's Stellaris family of microcontrollers are featured
in a design contest with two such complimentary partners as
Circuit Cellar and Keil software," said Lyons.
"This is an opportunity for designers all over the
world to experience the multiple benefits of the Cortex-M3
processor for microcontroller applications. We are looking
forward to the results and seeing inspiring design
executions featuring Stellaris microcontrollers."

    Developed specifically for microcontroller
applications, Luminary Micro's implementation of the
Cortex-M3 processor in the Stellaris family offers the
following features:

     * Always single cycle flash accesses for maximal
performance
     * Deterministic, fast interrupt processing -- never
more than 12 cycles, 
       only 6 cycles with tail-chaining
     * Entire software code base is written in C/C++ -- no
assembly language 
       required, even in startup code and interrupt service
handlers, making 
       the devices easy to program 
     * Occupies as little as half the flash code size of
ARM7(TM) family-based 
       MCU applications
     * Real embedded MCU GPIOs -- all can generate
interrupts, all have 
       programmable drive strength and slew rate control
     * No functional pin multiplexing -- pins are dedicated
to one peripheral, 
       backed by GPIO, and simultaneous use of on-chip
peripherals is not 
       limited by pin sharing, so engineers are no longer
forced to choose 
       between on-chip peripherals
     * Superior integration with an on-chip low dropout
voltage regulator, on-
       chip power-on-reset and brown-out-reset functions,
and an on-chip 
       temperature sensor, which together save up to $1.28
in system cost
     * Advanced motion control support in hardware and
software
     * Single cycle multiply, two cycle
multiply-accumulate, and hardware 
       divide instructions -- for better performance in
control applications

    The Stellaris LM3S811 Evaluation Kit used for
DesignStellaris2006 is both an evaluation platform for the
Stellaris LM3S811 and a serial in-circuit debug interface
for any Stellaris microcontroller-based target board,
spanning the design spectrum from evaluation to prototyping
to application-specific design. The kit also includes an
evaluation copy of the ARM RealView Microcontroller
Development Kit software tools on a CD packed with
datasheets, schematics, applications notes, and programming
examples. The board is powered over USB (cable included),
and also contains silk-screened through-hole-mount pin
headers that can be user populated with pin stake headers
for use in hardware prototyping. Utilizing a standard
20-pin ARM JTAG debug cable (also included), the Stellaris
LM3S811 Evaluation Kit can be used as a serial in-circuit
debug interface for the user's application-specific target
board.

    "While 32-bit processing combines cost efficiency
and performance, it traditionally also brings unwanted
complexity to the design process.  The combination of the
Stellaris microcontroller and the Keil(R) toolchain removes
the complexity and provides a great 'out of the box'
experience," said Reinhard Keil, director of MCU
Tools, ARM.  "We hope that participants of this
contest will benefit from the simplicity of the development
environment to create some truly innovative designs." 

    Ordering Information
    The RealView Microcontroller Development Kit is
distributed by Keil through the global channel listed at
http://www.keil.com/distis/ .  Stellaris microcontroller
development and evaluation kits, including the EKK-LM3S811
Evaluation Kit, are available through Luminary Micro's
global sales channel listed at
http://www.luminarymicro.com/sales . 

    About Luminary Micro and Stellaris
    Luminary Micro, Inc. designs, markets and sells ARM
Cortex-M3 processor-based microcontrollers (MCUs). Austin,
Texas-based Luminary Micro is a lead Partner for the
Cortex-M3 processor, delivering the world's first silicon
implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor. Luminary Micro's
introduction of the Stellaris(TM) family of products
provides 32-bit performance for the same price as current
8- and 16-bit microcontroller designs. With entry-level
pricing at $1.00 for an ARM technology-based MCU, Luminary
Micro's Stellaris product line allows for standardization
that eliminates future architectural upgrades or software
tools changes. Contact the company at 1-512-279-8800 or
email [e-mail] for more information.  

    Stellaris and the Luminary Micro logo are trademarks of
Luminary Micro, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United
States and other countries.  

    ARM, Keil, Thumb and RealView are registered trademarks
of ARM Limited. ARM7 and Cortex are trademarks of ARM
Limited. All other brands or product names are the property
of their respective holders. "ARM" is used to
represent ARM Holdings plc; its operating company ARM
Limited; and the regional subsidiaries ARM INC.; ARM KK;
ARM Korea Ltd.; ARM Taiwan; ARM France SAS; ARM Consulting
(Shanghai) Co. Ltd.; ARM Belgium N.V.; AXYS Design
Automation Inc.; AXYS GmbH; ARM Embedded Solutions Pvt.
Ltd.; and ARM Physical IP, Inc.; and ARM Norway AS.

     Company Contact:
     Jean Anne Booth
     CMO
     512.917.3088 mobile
     512.279.8801 office 
     [e-mail]

     Media Contact:
     Karen Johnson
     512.632.9636 mobile
     512.858.9598 office
     [e-mail]

SOURCE  Luminary Micro, Inc.