Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Actel Europe | Subject: Platform8051
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 16 October 2003
Platform strategy speeds FPGA-based MCU
design
Platform8051 is an integrated platform solution initially consisting of six popular pre-integrated and preverified intellectual property cores.
Platform8051 is an integrated platform solution initially consisting of six popular pre-integrated and preverified intellectual property (IP) cores Optimised for use with Actel field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), the Platform8051 solution enables a flexible, cost-effective, highly integrated embedded system for consumer, communications, industrial, automotive, military and aerospace applications
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Designers may specify any configuration of the industry-standard IP cores, including Actel's new Core8051 8bit microcontroller (MCU) and a range of peripherals, and within one day receive the platform design files via a web-based delivery system.
The Platform8051 development kit includes the IP cores, software tools and target silicon needed to implement this unique platform solution.
Leveraging this highly integrated IP solution, Actel expects designers to shave months off their design time.
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"By integrating a variety of key peripherals with an MCU core on a single FPGA, Actel enables the embedded system designer to achieve a highly differentiated system-on-chip design for a fraction of the time and expense required to develop an ASIC", said Yankin Tanurhan, Senior Director, Applications and IP Solutions Group at Actel.
"The 8051 is the world's leading 8bit MCU architecture, and with this integrated platform, designers can use Actel FPGAs to quickly create new products.
Likewise, Platform8051 enables designers to easily migrate current board-level designs onto a single FPGA to dramatically reduce system costs".
The initial Platform8051 IP family includes the Core8051, along with popular DirectCore peripheral IP including: Core10/100, a 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet core; CoreI2C, a standard Inter-Integrated Circuit core; CoreSPI, a Serial Peripheral Interface core; CoreSDLC, a Synchronous Data Link Controller core; and Core16X50, a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter core.
The cores are thoroughly verified and tested in software simulation and hardware and have been proven in customer designs.
Customers can purchase the complete set or any combination of the cores, depending on individual requirements, and receive the platform cores and user documentation via web access within a day.
Platform8051 can be used with many Actel FPGA families, including ProASIC Plus, Axcelerator, SX-A and RTSX-S, to deliver highly integrated 8051-based products more quickly and without the high non-recurring engineering (NRE) fees associated with ASIC designs.
Actel plans to deliver platforms based on other industry-standard processors in the future.
With the Platform8051 development kit, Actel delivers a complete development environment including IP cores, software tools and target FPGA for the embedded designer.
A Web server application is used to demonstrate Core8051 and Core10/100 in operation.
The kit includes an Actel ProASIC Plus APA600-FG676 device, the Keil mVision2 IDE evaluation software, Actel's Libero integrated design environment and an optional FlashPro Lite debugger providing access to First Silicon Solutions' (FS2) On-Chip Instrumentation.
Being modular, the kit will allow designers access to future demonstration applications, such as MIL-STD-1553, USB, IRDA and AFDX.
The Platform8051 product and development kit are available now.
The cores are also available individually or as a smaller, pre-integrated group.
For more information on pricing, contact Actel.
The evaluation kit is $550, or $700 including a FlashPro Lite programmer and FS2 debugger.
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