
Designing SOCs with Configured Cores
Unleashing the Tensilica Xtensa and Diamond Cores
Steve Leibson(Author)
Morgan Kaufmann (Publisher)
Published on 15. August 2006
Book
Hardback
344 pages
978-0-12-372498-4 (ISBN)
Description
Microprocessor cores used for SOC design are the direct descendents of Intel's original 4004 microprocessor. Just as packaged microprocessor ICs vary widely in their attributes, so do microprocessors packaged as IP cores. However, SOC designers still compare and select processor cores the way they previously compared and selected packaged microprocessor ICs. The big problem with this selection method is that it assumes that the laws of the microprocessor universe have remained unchanged for decades. This assumption is no longer valid.
Processor cores for SOC designs can be far more plastic than microprocessor ICs for board-level system designs. Shaping these cores for specific applications produces much better processor efficiency and much lower system clock rates. Together, Tensilica's Xtensa and Diamond processor cores constitute a family of software-compatible microprocessors covering an extremely wide performance range from simple control processors, to DSPs, to 3-way superscalar processors. Yet all of these processors use the same software-development tools so that programmers familiar with one processor in the family can easily switch to another.
This book emphasizes a processor-centric MPSOC (multiple-processor SOC) design style shaped by the realities of the 21st-century and nanometer silicon. It advocates the assignment of tasks to firmware-controlled processors whenever possible to maximize SOC flexibility, cut power dissipation, reduce the size and number of hand-built logic blocks, shrink the associated verification effort, and minimize the overall design risk.
Processor cores for SOC designs can be far more plastic than microprocessor ICs for board-level system designs. Shaping these cores for specific applications produces much better processor efficiency and much lower system clock rates. Together, Tensilica's Xtensa and Diamond processor cores constitute a family of software-compatible microprocessors covering an extremely wide performance range from simple control processors, to DSPs, to 3-way superscalar processors. Yet all of these processors use the same software-development tools so that programmers familiar with one processor in the family can easily switch to another.
This book emphasizes a processor-centric MPSOC (multiple-processor SOC) design style shaped by the realities of the 21st-century and nanometer silicon. It advocates the assignment of tasks to firmware-controlled processors whenever possible to maximize SOC flexibility, cut power dissipation, reduce the size and number of hand-built logic blocks, shrink the associated verification effort, and minimize the overall design risk.
Reviews / Votes
"Designing SOCs with Configured Processor Cores is an essential reference for system-on-chip designers. This well-written book gives a practical introduction to three basic techniques of modern SOC design: use of optimized standard CPU and DSP processors cores, application-specific configuration of processor cores, and system-level design of SOCs using configured cores as the key building block. Readers will find it is often the first book they reach for in defining and designing their next chip." --Chris Rowen, President and CEO, Tensilica, Inc."We're poised on the brink of a revolution in computing. Instead of fixed-architecture processors suited only to general-purpose computing or special-purpose digital signal processing tasks, we're moving to system-on-chip (SoC) devices containing multiple processor cores, each configured to perform specific tasks with extreme performance while consuming ultra-low power. The surf is up - and this book tells us how to ride the wave!" --Clive "Max" Maxfield, President, TechBites Interactive and author of The Design Warrior's Guide to FPGAs
"Steve Leibson's book is a gentle introduction to the art of digital electronics design capturing an important moment in the creation of the complete system on a chip. Generously dotted with block diagrams and snippets of code using the vehicle furnished by Xtensa technology, the book takes the reader through the evolution that led to multiple cores and configurable engines." --Max Baron, Senior Analyst at The Microprocessor Report
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
San Francisco
United States
Publishing group
Elsevier Science & Technology
Target group
Professional and scholarly
PRIMARY: Industry practitioners; System-on-Chip engineers designing embedded systems.
SECONDARY: Text for undergraduate and graduate level courses on Embedded Systems.
Illustrations
Approx. 140 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 191 mm
Weight
880 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-12-372498-4 (9780123724984)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2006
Morgan Kaufmann
€62.95
Available for download
Person
Content
Chapter 1: Introduction to 21st-century SOC design; Chapter 2: The SOC design flow; Chapter 3: Xtensa architectural basics; Chapter 4: Basic processor configurability; Chapter 5: MPSOC system architectures and design tools; Chapter 6: Introduction to Diamond cores; Chapter 7: The Diamond 108Mini controller core; Chapter 8: The Diamond 212GP controller core; Chapter 9: The Diamond 232L CPU core; Chapter 10: The Diamond 570T superscalar CPU core; Chapter 11: The Diamond 330HiFi superscalar audio DSP Core; Chapter 12: The Diamond 545CK superscalar DSP Core; Chapter 13: Using fixed processor cores in SOC systems; Chapter 14: Beyond fixed cores; Chapter 15: The future of SOC design