Hard cores provide easy route to 32bit performance

The MIPS32 24Kc and 4KEc hard cores provide an easy cost-effective low-risk alternative for startups, fabless semiconductor companies and system OEMs.

MIPS Technologies has made two additions to its expanding line of hard intellectual property (IP) cores.

The MIPS32 24Kc and 4KEc hard cores, which augment the company's line of synthesisable IP cores, provide an easy, cost-effective, low-risk alternative for startups, fabless semiconductor companies and system OEMs that want to take advantage of MIPS Technologies' industry-leading 32bit architecture in a broad range of digital consumer products.

The MIPS32 24Kc hard core builds on the momentum generated over the past year by the rapid adoption of the MIPS32 24K family of synthesisable cores.

With a worst-case frequency of 260MHz in 10.7mm2, the 24Kc hard core is available in TSMC 180nm G process.

This core is ideal for budget-conscious SoC designers, including those in the Asia/Pacific region, who need the cost and time-to-market benefits of hard cores and want more performance for set-top boxes, residential gateways, digital TVs, and other high-end consumer applications.

The MIPS32 4KEc hard core, available in a TSMC 130nm G process, offers a significant price/performance advantage to SoC designers.

With a worst-case frequency of 233MHz in 2.5mm2, the 4KEc hard core is an attractive solution for a broad range of embedded applications, including high-performance handheld and mobile consumer devices.

"By leveraging the benefits of hard IP cores with the exceptional performance of our 24K and price/performance 4KE core families, customers gain a tremendous advantage in the rapid delivery of high-performance products to cost-sensitive markets", said Russ Bell, Vice President of Marketing at MIPS Technologies.

"We are especially proud of the new 4KEc hard core, the first hard core developed by our new Shanghai R and D centre, which offers a small, but high-performance solution for budget-conscious SoC designers around the world".

Features of both hard cores include: a 32-entry translation look-aside buffer (TLB) for Linux support; MIPS16e ASE for code compression; a high-performance multiply/divide unit; CorExtend capability to enable customer-defined instruction extensions; COP2 interface to customer-defined coprocessor; and instruction and data breakpoints for debug support.

In addition to the new 24Kc and 4KEc cores, MIPS Technologies' hard IP core family includes a MIPS32 4KEc core in a TSMC 180nm G process and a MIPS32 4Kc core in a SMIC 180nm G process.

The MIPS32 24Kc and MIPS32 4KEc hard cores are now available for licensing from MIPS Technologies.

Both cores will be delivered with design kits composed of complete product documentation, design data, verification and simulation models, and include support and training.

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