Product category:
Design and Development Software
News Release from: Actel Europe | Subject: M7AFS design support
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 15 March 2006
ARM-based mixed-signal chip adds design
support
An expanded design infrastructure supports Actel's single-chip M7AFS device, the ARM7-enabled version of the company's award-winning, mixed-signal Fusion programmable system chip.
Underscoring its efforts to simplify the design of embedded systems, Actel Corporation has unveiled an expanded design infrastructure in support of its single-chip M7AFS device, the ARM7-enabled version of the company's award-winning, mixed-signal Actel Fusion programmable system chip (PSC) Contents of the new infrastructure include the CoreAI (analogue interface) IP core, and optimised versions of Actel's CoreConsole IP deployment platform (IDP) and Libero integrated design environment (IDE)
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 5 Aug 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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With this enhanced development environment, Actel offers designers the capability to quickly and easily implement the industry's only ARM7-enabled, mixed-signal FPGA for real-world applications ranging from communications to automotive, industrial and consumer.
"The combination of Actel's single-chip ARM7-enabled Fusion PSCs, the CoreMP7 soft ARM7 processor and this comprehensive design infrastructure frees designers from the need to settle for multichip solutions to complete their mixed-signal designs", said Jake Chuang, Senior Director, Marketing, Application Solutions at Actel.
"Additionally, the free availability of CoreAI, the optimised CoreConsole 1.1 IDP and Actel Libero IDE, significantly reduces the risk and costs associated with the development of feature-rich embedded systems".
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Actel's CoreAI IP block allows the CoreMP7 soft ARM7 processor core to interface with the analogue resources on Actel's M7 Fusion devices through the Advanced Peripheral Bus (APB), enabling designers to directly control and configure the analogue peripherals.
The CoreAI offers A/D conversion controlled by CoreMP7 and an APB slave interface with 8 or 16bit width and 14 maskable interrupt sources.
Further, an internal clock divider in CoreAI generates an analogue configuration mux clock, and an optional-read FIFO stores up to 256 A/D conversions.
Simplifying the assembly of IP cores within M7AFS designs, the free CoreConsole 1.1 IDP allows users to focus on the system rather than individual components, resulting in significant reductions of time and cost in overall development.
In addition, CoreConsole 1.1 provides access to CoreAI through an integrated "IP vault" as well as to Actel's entire DirectCore IP library, full AHB multimaster support, software driver export and memory map generation, and free CoreMP7 subsystem IP block updates.
Also available for free, Libero 7.1 IDE Gold allows users to instantly begin implementing ARM7-enabled, mixed-signal FPGA designs up to one million system gates.
Optimisations to Libero 7.1 include design support for the first device in the M7AFS family, the M7AFS600.
Additionally, the SmartGen core generator tool within the Libero IDE enables the configuration of the analogue capabilities of M7AFS devices accessible through CoreAI.
Representing the definitive, single-chip PSC platform, the ARM7-enabled Actel Fusion devices satisfy a demand from system architects for a solution that simplifies design and unleashes their creativity for the development of feature-rich embedded systems.
Bridging the industry-standard ARM7 technology with the industry's first mixed-signal FPGA family, the ARM7-enabled Actel Fusion PSC presents new capabilities for system development by allowing designers to integrate a wide range of functionality into a single device, including support for +/-12V analogue I/O, up to 8Mbit of embedded Flash memory, integrated ADC and up to 1.5 million system gates of programmable logic fabric.
Further, Actel's M7AFS Fusion PSCs extend the core benefits of the company's Flash FPGA technology: live at power-up (LAPU), low power, practical firm-error immunity and security.
Actel's Core AI will be available for free in April.
Also free, the CoreConsole 1.1 IDP and Libero 7.1 IDE Gold will be available in April for download via Actel's website.
A Platinum edition of Libero 7.1 IDE is available for $2495.
All editions are one-year renewable licences.
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