A family of RISC-based microprocessors and microcontrollers from ARM Inc., Cambridge, England (www.arm.com). The company was founded as Advanced RISC Machines in 1990 by Acorn Computers, Apple and VLSI Technology.

ARM chips are medium to high-speed CPUs that are known for their small die size and low power requirements. The designs are licensed to more than a dozen semiconductor manufacturers that make chips for smartphones, PDAs, games and numerous other consumer products. For example, ARM processors power Apple's iPod and iPhone.

Processor families are designated by the prefix "ARM" and a digit, such as ARM7 and ARM9 or with names such as Cortex and SecurCore, the latter brand used for smart cards and other secure identification requirements.

StrongARM Chips
The StrongARM was a high-speed version of the ARM chip that was jointly developed with and for Digital Equipment Corporation. The SA-100, the first StrongARM chip, was delivered in 1995, and Intel acquired the technology from Digital in 1997. See StrongARM and Thumb.