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SOFT CELL

by Tom Cantrell

Start ý Start Making Sense ý Viva La Difference ý No Free Lunch ý Tool Sweet ý Real Time or Hard Time? ý Small Step, Big Journey ý Sources and PDF

Itýs fitting that the year 2000 saw so much activity in what I believe will be the new millennium design methodology, namely field-programmable System-on-Chip technology. These are chips that combine a hard- or soft-core CPU(s) with a measure of field-programmable logic, in essence ASICs for the masses.

As I wrote in my article "SoC It to Me" (Circuit Cellar 116), I give Triscend credit for being the first to bring a fully finished product to market with a comprehensive package of chips (ý51- and ARM-based), tools, and IP (popular peripheral functions). It demonstrates the promise of what can and will be.

Atmel, never slow to recognize a good thing, quickly hit the streets with its own chips, leveraging the popularity of its well-suited (i.e., simple and small) AVR 8-bit core, FPGA, and flash memory know-how. Meanwhile, top FPGA suppliers, Xilinx and Altera, have made their moves (though slowly), starting at the high end with 32-bit hard-cores including PowerPC, ARM, and MIPS. A new startup, Chameleon, is offering its powerful RPC chip incorporating an ARC 32-bit CPU and communication-centric reconfigurable logic.

So far, these are rocket-science class chips, with prices that limit them to niche applications. The important point is that itýs a first step, and now thereýs no turning back.

Getting back to reality, Altera also offers a mid-range soft-core known as NIOS, intriguing both for its price (free) and pro-class GNU tool chain. The practicality of fitting a soft-core with modest performance pretensions in even the lowest cost FPGAs was well demonstrated by Jan Grayýs series of articles "Building a RISC System in an FPGA" (Circuit Cellar 116ý118).

Recently, I covered the Cypress PSoC in my article "SoC Hop" (Circuit Cellar 128), a unique take on the trend incorporating peripheral-centric programmable logic, analog capability, and down-to-earth price.

NEXT

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