IAR Systems and Energy Micro collaboration eases development of ultra low power MCU applications

February 4, 2010—Uppsala, Sweden—IAR Systems, an independent provider of software development tools, today announced its cooperation with low-power MCU provider Energy Micro AS. Energy Micro has chosen IAR Embedded Workbench® for ARM for inclusion in its EFM32 Gecko Development Kit. All code examples for the EFM32 MCU supplied in the kit are based on IAR Embedded Workbench. In addition, customers will have the opportunity to purchase the Energy Micro kit directly from IAR Systems.

Jørn Norheim, Tools Manager, Energy Micro AS comments, “The highly efficient code generated by IAR Embedded Workbench for ARM is the perfect complement for our EFM32 MCU. IAR Systems’ development tools are already well recognised and respected by engineers, and our cooperation will further enhance this for designs where lower power consumption is crucial.”

Based on the ARM Cortex™-M3 core, the EFM32 MCU is an ultra low power device and meets the increasing demand for energy friendly microcontrollers in handheld battery-operated applications.

Mike Skrtic, Partner Manager, IAR Systems says, “Our cooperation with Energy Micro marks the latest of our partnerships with silicon vendors. We see a growing demand for both ARM Cortex-M3 and very low power developments, so partnering with Energy Micro is a natural fit for us.”

IAR Embedded Workbench is a set of highly sophisticated and easy-to-use development tools. It incorporates IAR C/C++ Compiler for ARM Cortex-M3, assembler, linker, librarian, text editor, project manager, and debugger combined in an integrated development environment (IDE) for programming embedded applications.

IAR Embedded Workbench is developed to deliver high-performance compiled code. The chip-specific code optimizer generates very efficient and reliable flashable code for ARM Cortex-M3 devices. The toolset is renowned across the industry for its efficient code generation characteristics, an essential aspect of battery-operated devices.

About IAR System
IAR Systems is the world’s leading supplier of software tools for embedded systems that enable large and small companies to develop premium products based on 8-, 16-, and 32-bit microcontrollers, mainly in the areas of industrial automation, medical devices, consumer electronics and automotive products. IAR Systems has an extensive network of partners and cooperates with the world’s leading semiconductor vendors. Established in 1983, IAR Systems is part of the Intoi Group since 2005. For more information, please visit www.iar.com.

About Energy Micro
Energy Micro develops, markets and sells the world's most energy friendly microcontrollers, based on the industry leading ARM® Cortex™-M3 32-bit architecture. The company was founded in 2007 by experienced semiconductor professionals with previous expertise from Chipcon, Texas Instruments, Atmel and Nordic Semiconductor. More information on Energy Micro is available at www.energymicro.com