STMicroelectronics: “We are putting big focus in IoT and Smart City space”

With a number of global operators and large enterprises announcing plans to focus on IoT and smart cities - IoT and Smart City enablement are gaining ground on global level. Taking a cue from this opportunity - STMicroelectronics is all set to enable innovative solutions around these segments.

Speaking on the sidelines of Mobile World Congress 2016 in Barcelona, Franco Cataldo, Tradeshows Manager, Marketing & Communication, Central LABs, STMicroelectronics speaks with Zia Askari from TelecomDrive.com about how the company is looking at the emerging opportunities in IoT and smart cities.

Please introduce yourself to us?

I am Franco Cataldo, based in Catania, Italy. I support our products promotion developing catching demonstrators for the major applications addressed by ST and showcased during the tradeshows like here in Barcelona.

Today, what are the big priorities that STMicroelectronics has when it comes to addressing IoT and smart city?

We are investing a lot of efforts in those fields and have a huge product portfolio in various areas. We are focusing on microcontrollers, sensors, actuators and connectivity.

On top of that, we have a dedicated tool called STM32 Open Development Environment (STM32 ODE) which is an ideal way to start development of innovative devices and applications with state-of-the-art ST components. Using the STM32 ARM® Cortex® 32-bit microcontroller devices as a foundation, the environment includes a comprehensive set of expansion boards to easily add sensing, connectivity, power supply and management, movement and actuation, and signal-translation functions to developing products.

The range of more than 20 STM32 Nucleo developer boards and more than 20 STM32 Nucleo expansion boards currently available provides all the functionality needed to build Smart Things and IoT applications. But smart city, this is also smart driving and ST is well positioned.

What are the big innovations likely to come from STMicroelectronics side especially in the field of IoT, smart sensors?

As mentioned, we are focusing on microcontrollers, sensors and connectivity. Today we provide state-of-art devices addressing ultra-low power and secure microcontrollers and low noise and high accuracy sensors. We are also introducing new technology mixing analog and efficient power solutions with short-range and wide-area connectivity network processor.

Tell me about the size of opportunity you are looking at in IoT and smart sensors and smart city. What are the verticals you are looking at while addressing this?

Today people are more and more connected with everything and everywhere. Opportunities are really huge and the market is growing fast.

In its different configuration of the smart industry, smart building, smart city, smartphone, smart things, ST really seeks to serve the IoT market leveraging on the quite unique set of technologies in digital, in analog, in mixed signals, in embedded processing with our non-volatile memories. So at the end, the ST portfolio, between automotive (smart driving) and IoT, is addressing an overall serviceable market in the range of $150 billion.

What is the role of ST in defining the standards today?

We pay attention to all the standards today that are covering IoT applications and we are part of many alliances, directly or in partnership with our major customers.