IBM Pushes PowerPC Licensing

The manufacturer says . . .

Murray Disman says . . .

IBM PowerPC Processor Wins Industry Honor Company Launches Licensing and Enablement Programs for Platform EAST FISHKILL, N.Y.--Feb. 14, 2003--The IBM PowerPC 440GX embedded processor has received the fourth annual Analysts' Choice Award for best high-performance embedded processor of 2002 by In-Stat/MDR (MicroDesign Resources), a well-known industry consulting firm and publisher of The Microprocessor Report. The Analysts' Choice Awards recognize excellence in semiconductor technology innovation, design, and implementation. The IBM PowerPC 440GX was cited for delivering a well-rounded set of features "at a price that makes it attractive for a wide range of high-volume applications." In response to growing customer interest in the use of IBM PowerPC technology in a variety of computing, communications, and consumer-electronics applications, IBM also announced a set of licensing and support initiatives to help make the technology more readily available and adaptable. "This award is yet another industry acknowledgment of the strength and momentum of the IBM PowerPC processor," said Lisa Su, director of PowerPC and Emerging Products, IBM Microelectronics. "In addition to our technological focus on leading-edge performance and low power, we are providing flexibility and support for our customers and partners through our licensing options. The attributes of the IBM PowerPC processor are widely recognized; now they can be more widely applied." IBM has adapted the PowerPC processor to a wide range of applications, while continually enhancing it with the latest IBM chip-manufacturing technologies and design innovations for improved performance, function, and power consumption. The IBM PowerPC 440GX processor, for example, is a highly integrated device that delivers up to 667 MHz and executes up to two instructions per cycle. It offers the versatility and bandwidth required for today's demanding networking and storage applications. "The integration of dual-Gigabit Ethernet and the requirement for TCP/IP off-load acceleration made IBM's PowerPC 440GX the only choice to extend our PMC product family," said Saeed Karamooz, president and CEO, RAMiX Inc., which designs and manufactures embedded switches, server blades, and networking, storage I/O, and memory solutions. "IBM's decision to openly license PowerPC technology will further aid in the adoption of the architecture. This is a smart move on IBM's part, capitalizing on the industry's investment in PowerPC technology." These newly announced licensing and support initiatives are designed to expand access to the benefits of the technology to a broader set of customers and applications. Important to potential licensees of any processor is the availability of design tools, design services, and manufacturing resources that support the technology so that products based on it can be brought to market quickly and efficiently. Under an IBM agreement with Synopsys, Synopsys is making the high-performance PowerPC core synthesizable, and is enabling a complete flow through its industry-standard design tools. Starting in second quarter 2003, Synopsys plans to provide its DesignWare Library licensees access to simulation and timing models free of charge through the DesignWare Star IP Program. Synopsys plans to deliver and support the synthesizable core for designers who have licensed the core from IBM. "The DesignWare Star IP relationship between IBM and Synopsys will connect the proven PowerPC architecture to the rich set of DesignWare IP and make it available to a much broader set of customers and applications," said Joachim Kunkel, vice president of marketing, Synopsys IP and Design Services Group. "Customers can either harden and integrate the PowerPC core themselves with support from Synopsys, or they can engage Synopsys' Professional Services to assist them in any part of the design or hardening process." Similarly, IBM has reached an agreement with Cadence under which Cadence will incorporate the PowerPC processor into its design services activity. This agreement brings together the key design-chain relationships to enable design teams to achieve successful silicon with lower risk. As part of this collaboration, Cadence is mapping the PowerPC processor to foundry technologies so that designs can be created for manufacture in both IBM and outside fabs. "The PowerPC collaboration is the next in a series of strategic arrangements between Cadence and IBM to simplify the chip design process for joint customers and bring 90 and 65 nm design-chain solutions to market," said Penny Herscher, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at Cadence. "The extensive experience Cadence has with IBM's process technology, design methodology, and the PowerPC architecture made this collaboration a natural fit. Cadence is pleased to provide its leading-design software and services to assist Cadence and IBM customers with expanded adoption of the PowerPC processor."

IBM has joined with Cadence and Synopsys in an effort to expand the licensing of its PowerPC cores for use in ASICs and ASSPs. Synopsys will develop synthesizable versions of the processor and add it to its DesignWare library starting next quarter. Cadence will incorporate the PowerPC into its design services activities and will also create a hard version of the core targeted at TSMC processes. According to the company, the new PowerPC licensing program will initially offer synthesizable and hardened IBM PowerPC 4xx cores targeted to the IBM foundry and to other foundries. IBM's industry-standard CoreConnect bus architecture and additional peripherals, such as a memory controller and PCI bridge, will be included in the license. IBM is also developing a CoreConnect-to-AMBA bridge. IBM has in the past licensed the PowerPC core to a selected number of customers. This includes Xilinx, which has embedded the core in its line of Virtex-II Pro FPGAs. The new IBM program will place it in competition with ARM and MIPS, and will offer users a viable and proven alternative. The company points out that products such as cell phones, PDAs, and game systems are overtaking the PC as the basis for communications, entertainment, and information access, and their individual requirements demand more than any one off-the-shelf processor can provide.

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