Microcontroller core is made for FPGA applications

The LatticeMico8 is an 8bit "soft" microcontroller core for the LatticeECP, LatticeEC and LatticeXP families of FPGAs, as well as the recently released MachXO family of crossover PLDs.

Available now from Lattice Semiconductor Corp, the LatticeMico8 is an 8bit "soft" microcontroller core for the LatticeECP, LatticeEC and LatticeXP families of FPGAs, as well as the recently released MachXO family of crossover programmable logic devices.

In order to encourage user experimentation, development and contributions, Lattice is providing a new open intellectual property (IP) core licence, the first such licence offered by any FPGA supplier.

The licence applies many of the concepts of the successful open source movement to IP cores targeted for programmable logic applications.

"8bit microcontrollers continue to play a major role in our customers' designs", said Stan Kopec, Lattice Vice President of Corporate Marketing.

"Our LatticeMico8 IP and its open intellectual property (IP) core licence satisfy our customers' needs for a flexible, silicon-efficient solution that can be modified easily, when needed, to meet specific application needs".

Optimised for Lattice architectures, the LatticeMico8 microcontroller consumes fewer than 200 look up tables (LUTs) in the smallest configuration, while maintaining a broad feature set.

In addition to the core design in Verilog, Lattice also provides an assembler and an instruction set simulator, both as source code.

To showcase the features and capabilities of the LatticeMico8, a demo is available for download that allows users to implement a working design in less than 30 minutes on a Lattice evaluation board.

To further enhance flexibility, the design is parameterised to allow the easy implementation of four configurations, each optimised for different user needs.

In addition to the LatticeMico8 microcontroller, Lattice provides other 8bit microcontroller solutions through its ispLeverCore partners, Cast and Digital Core Design, including the 8051 and PIC.

Unlike the free IP cores, also known as reference designs, typically available from FPGA vendors, the LatticeMico8 is licensed under a new and innovative Lattice open IP core licence agreement, which can be downloaded from the Lattice website.

The licence agreement addresses specific issues associated with designs targeted toward programmable logic.

By allowing users to modify the core and share their modifications, the open IP core licence will foster user development and experimentation.

Specifically, the licence: preserves the open nature of the core by permitting use alongside proprietary designs; and allows hardware implementation and distribution without the need for a licence agreement.

Additionally, both the assembler and instruction set simulator will be available as source under the standard Gnu General Public Licence (GPL) agreement.

The LatticeMico8 reference design, which includes the core, user guide, all tools and demo examples, is available now for immediate download at no charge on the Lattice website.

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