AUSTIN, Texas, March 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- The Stellaris(R) Family of MCUs, ARM's CMSIS Initiative Share Same Goal of Standardizing the Microcontroller Market with a Single, Scalable Hardware/Software Architecture

Luminary Micro, creators of the award-winning Stellaris family of ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers (MCUs), today announced alignment and support for ARM's Cortex Microcontroller Software Interface Standard (CMSIS), a standardized hardware abstraction layer for the Cortex-M processor series. The purpose of the CMSIS initiative is precisely the same as Luminary Micro's purpose when creating the Stellaris family of ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers: to standardize a fragmented industry on one superior hardware and software microcontroller architecture.

We based our award-winning Stellaris microcontrollers on the Cortex-M3 processor to provide users with 32-bit performance while eliminating future architectural upgrades or software tool changes, said Jean Anne Booth, CMO of Luminary Micro. The new CMSIS is a valuable software addition for users who have already chosen the open ARM architecture to enable common software reuse across multiple end-product platforms, bringing further improvements in time-to-market.

Luminary Micro designs, markets, and sells ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers for the embedded and industrial markets. Now, with over 140 ARM Cortex-M3-based Stellaris microcontrollers and over thirty Stellaris evaluation, development, and reference design kits, there are Stellaris microcontroller options to fit the performance, integration, power, and price-point requirements of any industrial application. Luminary Micro provides the only fully-integrated standard-architecture solution in the industry for real-time Ethernet networking (with hardware assist for IEEE 1588 support), the only ARM microcontroller to integrated both Ethernet MAC and PHY, best-in-class motion control capability on an MCU, superior performance through single-cycle Flash access up to 50MHz, smart and accurate analog capabilities, and the industry's only complete StellarisWare(TM) libraries suite.

Luminary Micro's widespread proliferation of the ARM Cortex-M3 architecture through their Stellaris family of MCUs has fueled the movement to standards for the microcontroller industry, said Reinhard Keil, Director of MCU Tools at ARM. The rich and diverse feature set of the various Stellaris microcontrollers that are available today show that the Cortex architecture is the right choice for the energy, security, and connectivity markets.

Over 3400 different customers in sixty-four countries and territories worldwide have purchased Stellaris products from Luminary Micro. The Stellaris family offers efficient performance and extensive integration, favorably positioning the family into cost-conscious applications requiring significant control processing and connectivity capabilities. With the Stellaris family's wide array of features, customers have designed Stellaris into numerous industrial and consumer applications, including building control devices, factory automation machines, industrial networking switches, motor controllers, AC inverters, photovoltaic converters, fire and security systems, test and measurement equipment, electronic point of sales machines and printers, medical devices, power supplies, fitness equipment, and consumer electronic toys.

Stellaris microcontrollers, evaluation kits, production modules, reference design kits are available today, and can be purchased online at www.luminarymicro.com/buy_now, or through local sales representatives at www.luminarymicro.com/sales.

About Luminary Micro and Stellaris

Luminary Micro, Inc. designs, markets and sells ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers (MCUs). Austin, Texas-based Luminary Micro is the lead partner for the Cortex-M3 processor, delivering the world's first silicon implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor. Stellaris mixed-signal microcontrollers contain specialized capabilities for applications in energy, security, and connectivity markets. With the world's largest selection of ARM-based microcontrollers, Luminary Micro's Stellaris family allows for standardization that eliminates future architectural upgrades or software tools changes.

Stellaris and the Luminary Micro logo are registered trademarks, and StellarisWare is a trademark of Luminary Micro, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.

Luminary Micro Company Contact:

Jean Anne Booth / CMO / +1-512-917-3088 mobile / +1-512-279-8801 office / JeanAnne.Booth@LuminaryMicro.com

Jean Anne Booth, CMO of Luminary Micro, mobile, +1-512-917-3088, office, +1-512-279-8801, JeanAnne.Booth@LuminaryMicro.com