Product category:
Intellectual Property Cores
News Release from: ARC International | Subject: ARCtangent-A4 processor
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 05 September 2001
IP interfaces ease soft core integration
ARC Cores has introduced three new interfaces for its user-customisable 32bit processor, to make it easier to connect third-party and existing IP to its processor and save precious development time.
ARC Cores has introduced three new interfaces for its user-customisable 32bit processor, to make it easier to connect third-party and existing IP to its processor and save precious development time Support has been added for the new USB 2.0 device controller specification, allowing developers to use the ARChitect processor configuration tool to add either USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 to the ARCtangent-A4 processor
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 20 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Also new are industry-standard BVCI and AMBA interfaces for the core, making it the first soft IP processor core to support both standards.
The addition of these interfaces is an important part of ARC's strategy to ease the design process of integrating different pieces of technology.
Ashish Sethi, product manager, commented, "By adding support for these standards, we are able to reinforce the fundamental benefit of our technology - the ability to get high-performance embedded system designs to market quickly.
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ARCtangent-A4 can be connected to other parts of an SoC design even more easily and quickly using standard interfaces which can be selected through the ARChitect point-and-click tool.
In addition, designers can plug in their own, or third-party peripherals, that have been designed to support either one of the two standards".
He adds, "The increased connectivity, coupled with the multiple I/O interfaces of ARCtangent, make it one of the most suitable solutions for I/O-intensive embedded applications".
In adding USB 2.0, ARC has opened up a whole new market for its processor technology in PC-based consumer electronics and office automation.
Dataquest predicts that 493 million USB-enabled peripherals will be shipped in 2003.
ARC is the first to supply an integrated processor and USB 2.0 device controller as soft IP, enabling developers to choose any foundry for their design.
USB 2.0 is added to the ARCtangent-A4 processor using the ARChitect processor configuration tool.
However, developers may also wish to add legacy and other third-party IP to their SoCs.
The introduction of the Basic Virtual Component Interface (BVCI), developed by the Virtual Socket Interface Alliance (VSIA), provides a standard by which developers can connect IP modules in an SoC directly with each other, rather than across a single bus.
BVCI is fast becoming the interface of choice by third-party IP vendors due to its proclivity towards low latencies.
The other popular model for IP connectivity is the AMBA bus standard developed by ARM.
Supporting both connectivity methods opens up significant new opportunities for using ARC's processor technology.
USB 2.0 and BVCI connectivity will be offered through the ARChitect configuration tool during Q4 2001, while AMBA will be offered in Q1 of 2002.
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