Product category:
Intellectual Property Cores
News Release from: MIPS Technologies | Subject: MIPS32 74K cores
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 29 May 2007
Synthesisable 32bit processors run past
1GHz
Next-generation processor core family is based on an innovative embedded microarchitecture.
MIPS Technologies has unveiled its next-generation processor core family based on an innovative embedded microarchitecture The MIPS32 74K cores are the industry's first fully synthesisable 32bit processors to achieve operating frequencies greater than 1GHz in TSMC 65nm process technology
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 23 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Long-time MIPS licensee Broadcom Corporation was the first to license the 74K core in January as an early access customer-as the company continues to drive next-generation solutions for the business, consumer and service provider markets.
The MIPS-Verified 74K cores are uniquely designed for high-volume applications throughout the digital and connected home, including DTV, set-top boxes, next-generation DVD players/recorders, broadband access, PON, residential gateways and VoIP - all markets where MIPS holds a commanding position.
The 74K core family is designed to work with generic standard cells, memories and EDA design flows without the need for premium physical IP or costly structured logic and custom design flows.
Further reading
64bit soft core has integral floating-point unit
In response to customer demand for a 64bit synthesisable processor core with floating point, MIPS Technologies has introduced the MIPS64 5Kf core.
Boosted performance for 32bit soft core
MIPS Technologies has launched its next generation 32bit, high-performance, low-power core, the MIPS32 4KE family.
MIPS cores join Synopsis IP library
More than 25,000 design engineers who use the Synopsys DesignWare IP library to jump-start their designs will soon have access to the MIPS Technologies highly configurable MIPS32 4KE family of synthes
The processor family is optimised to deliver exceptional performance levels as well as area- and power-efficiencies required for today's complex SoC designs.
"The 74K core family introduces advanced microarchitecture techniques that have never before been available in a synthesisable core - delivering a new level of performance for a licensable design", notes Linley Gwennap, Principal Analyst of The Linley Group.
"Yet MIPS has been able to deliver this strong performance while optimising area and cost, giving SoC designers an efficient option for meeting next-generation performance requirements".
"The rapid convergence of digital devices and the emergence of new consumer markets, including IPTV, HD DVD, Blu-ray Disc and 802.11n, are driving the demand for superior performance, lower system costs and low power consumption", says Jack Browne, Vice President of Marketing at MIPS Technologies.
"The 74K core family delivers superior performance and power-efficiencies in the smallest area in its class, enabling our customers to dramatically shorten their design cycles and bring a new generation of powerful MIPS-based products into the market".
MIPS has optimised the 74K processor cores for breakthrough performance and area- and power-efficiencies by designing an advanced microarchitecture for the embedded market.
This revolutionary core technology is compatible with the software and system interfaces of the industry-standard 24K, 24KE and 34K processors, enabling SoC designers to take advantage of their existing hardware infrastructure.
Compared with traditional approaches, the 74K core's 17-stage pipeline employing a unique combination of out-of-order dispatch and asymmetric dual-issue, enables a higher frequency, higher performance solution, with lower area and power.
Out-of-order instruction dispatch enables the 74K core to execute multiple instructions more often than an in-order processor-resulting in significantly improved performance and efficiency, even for existing binary code.
The ability to efficiently execute existing binaries, combined with the use of the same system interface from previous MIPS' processor cores, allows the 74K core family to offer a seamless upgrade.
The 74K cores also feature enhanced DSP instructions that accelerate performance, reduce power consumption and add more signal processing functionality into the processor.
Additional DSP instructions in Revision 2 of the MIPS DSP ASE eliminate the need for a separate DSP core for many audio, video and VoIP applications, reducing silicon area, system costs and design cycles.
The combination of higher frequency, dual-issue capability and enhanced DSP instructions in the 74K core results in a speedup of more than 60% over the 24KE cores for a wide variety of DSP inner loops.
The 74K core family includes two members: the 74Kc base integer core and the 74Kf core, which adds high-performance floating point support that is fully compliant with the IEEE754 specification.
Both 74K cores feature the CorExtend functionality, allowing SoC designers to add their own proprietary instructions and tightly coupled hardware.
The 74K core family is now generally available to customers.
Similar to all MIPS product families, the 74K cores will be supported by a robust and extensive ecosystem of silicon IP, software, hardware solutions and services.
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