A block of logic or data that can be used in making application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)
- 1. Intellectual Property (IP) Cores By Jannin Joy A. Ramirez
- 2. Semiconductor industry: Then and Now THEN SC companies provided product definition design manufacturing assembly customer support Goal: system integration NOW “chipless” companies only provide design information e.g. ARM – microprocessors, peripherals, and chips Amphion – digital video and broadband wireless applications
- 3. IP Core: What is it exactly? • A design function with well-defined interfaces. • a design block for a specific chip that handles a well-defined piece of functionality • A block of logic or data that can be used in making application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) e.g. CPUs, Ethernet controllers, UARTs Ethernet – LAN technology, IOBASE-T Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter – microchip w/ programming that controls PC’s interface to attached serial devices
- 4. IP core Design flow • ©Whitney and Neville-Neil
- 5. How are IP cores created? • Register Transfer Language (RTL) – a hardware programming language • Synthesis programs – read RTL and translate them directly to circuits that are implemented on the silicon • Simulation programs – read RTL and let designers exercise functionality and check its correctness
- 6. EDA (electronic design automation) Tools DESIGN STAGE TOOLS SUPPORTED RTL Simulation And Gate Level Simulation Synopsys Chronologic VCS v5.0.1A – Unix Cadence Verilog XL v2.6.37 Unix ModelTech ModelSim v5.3d WinNT Logic Synthesis Synopsys Design Compiler v99.10-4 Test Synthesis Synopsys Test Compiler v99.10-4
- 7. IP core categories • SOFT IP – core is not mapped onto silicon (+) portable across technology generations (-) raw RTL code must be tailored to a target technology through logic design process • HARD IP – physical manifestations of the IP design (+) best for plug-and-play applications (-) less portable and flexible • FIRM IP – combination of best attributes of both soft and hard (+) portability and silicon optimization
- 8. Comparison of Attributes of IP formats SOFT IP FIRM IP HARD IP Delivery format RTL code Technology specific netlist GDSII data Portability/ Reusability HIGH HIGH LOW Silicon Optimization LOW HIGH HIGHEST Integration effort required HIGH Logic design process required LOW Place and rout tools LOW Drop into SoC design
- 9. ARM CPU cores • ARM CPU cores cover a wide range of performance and features enabling system designers to create solutions that meet their precise requirements. • Three system categories: Embedded real-time – storage, automotive, industrial and networking applications Open platforms – devices running platform OS like Linus, PalmOS, Windows CE Secure applications – SIM cards and payment terminals
- 10. Cache Size (Inst/Data) Tightly Coupled Memory Memory management AHB Bus Interface Clock MHz EMBEDDED CORES ARM7TDMI No No No Yes 133 ARM7TDMI-S No No No Yes 100-133 ARM1026EJ-S Variable Yes MMU+MPU Dual AHB 266-325 PLATFORM CORES ARM720T 8K unified No MMU Yes 100 ARM1136J(F)-S Variable Yes MMU Quad 64- bit AHB 333-400
- 11. Latest version of ARM CPU cores • ARM v6 Architecture KEY AREAS: Memory Management average fetch and data latency is reduced more efficient bus usage; less bus activity yields significant power savings as a result of reduced memory access
- 12. • Multiprocessing Multiprocessor systems share data efficiently by sharing memory ARM v6 data sharing and synchronization capabilities make it easier to implement multiprocessor systems
- 13. • Multimedia Support Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) capabilities enable more efficient software implementation of media applications such as audio and video encoders
- 14. • Data Handling Endianism refers to the way data is referenced and stored in memory SoC integration: little endian OS environment and interfaces (USB,PCI) with big endian data (TCP/IP packet, MPEG stream) ARM v6 handles data in mixed-endian systems
- 15. Latest version of ARM CPU core Benefits of ARM v6 Architecture 30 percent increase in system performance * level-one memory system, which includes features such as a tightly-coupled Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller and re-architected cache, Up to 8x performance increase for media applications * SIMD capabilities boost the performance of media applications such as audio and video encoder/decoders by up to four times, * also includes enhanced instruction set support for motion estimation.
- 16. ARM11 Family: ARM1136J-S and ARM 1136J(F)-S • Low power consumption o < 0.4mW/MHz (0.13µm, 1V) including cache controllers o Energy saving power-down modes address static leakage currents in advanced processes • High performance integer processor o 8-stage integer pipeline delivers high clock frequency o Separate load-store and arithmetic pipelines Branch Prediction and Return Stack • High performance memory system design o Supports 4-64k cache sizes o Optional tightly coupled memories with DMA for multi-media applications o High-performance 64-bit memory system speeds data access for media processing and networking applications o ARMv6 memory system architecture accelerates OS context-switch