Embedded Processor Watch

Editor: Cary D. Snyder

Contributors to this issue: Max Baron and Markus Levy.

In This Issue:

• MDR's Analyst Choice Awards
• Motorola and ARM Sign Licensing Deal
• TI Expands C54x Family
• ColdFire Device Supports Telecom

MDR's Analyst Choice Awards

By Max Baron {12/19/00-01}

MicroDesign Resources' Analyst Choice Awards for calendar 2000 will spotlight new categories in addition to the microprocessors and specialized chips that have attracted engineering and business attention during the previous years. Scheduled for January 18, 2001, the MDR ceremony will crown the best product in each of the eight processor categories and--to top things off--will provide a platform for the first Annual EEMBC Awards.

Processors for PCs, servers, and workstations will be joined by the increasingly important digital-signal processors and by introductions of new mobile PC and application-specific media and network processors. Awards will also be bestowed on the ubiquitous embedded processor and on the highly integrated embedded processor. Driven by engineering magic as well as by generous R&D funds generated by rising revenues, announcements and introductions during 2000 were exciting and plentiful, more than justifying the obligatory statement about it being hard to choose the winner.

Nominees have been selected from briefings, presentations, and similar technical data provided to MDR and/or available to its analysts from public sources. The foremost criteria of excellence were defined for each category; additional tiebreaker criteria will be used where necessary. Evaluations by MDR' s analysts will be based on comparative merits and will not be affected by either the timeliness of the introduction or the length of time required to complete the product. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.mpronline.com/mpr/h/2000/1218/145101.html )

Motorola and ARM Sign Licensing Deal

By Markus Levy {12/19/00-02}

MCore, move over; ARM is here. Motorola has always considered ARM cores as competition to its own MCore cores, so it was interesting, but not surprising, news that Motorola has licensed the ARM processor families. The company plans to rely on its ARM-based products to supply customers that are creating the next generation of PDAs, smart phones, and Internet appliances, particularly devices that are based on the Palm OS. This licensing deal doesn't imply that MCore will be disappearing--at least for the time being; Motorola has a healthy roadmap and many design wins for MCore-based cores and devices. The advantages of the homegrown core are many, including not having to pay royalty fees.

In response to customer requests, Motorola plans to use its ARM license to expand its DragonBall family, the extremely successful processor line that powers Palm's handheld computers. The 68VZ328 and 68EZ328, both 68K-based processors, currently comprise the DragonBall family. Although these processors continue to serve their purpose, they top out at 33MHz. The ARM processors will certainly provide increased performance capabilities. Motorola hasn't released details of any core or silicon implementations, but it is clear that its license will allow it to make architectural enhancements. Until now, Intel has been the only other licensee allowed to make such enhancements. Motorola will be making ARM-based product announcements in 1Q01 and be in production by 4Q01. MDR expects that one of the first products will marry an ARM core to a StarCore or other Motorola DSP for wireless communications functions. This product may be similar to Intel's combination of its XScale processor with its new Frio DSP and Texas Instruments' union of its DSPs with ARM10 cores. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.mpronline.com/mpr/h/2000/1218/145102.html )

TI Expands C54x Family

New C54-1 Takes C54x in Lower-Cost Direction

By Markus Levy {12/19/00-03}

TI is expanding its popular C54x product line with the $3.50 TMS320C5401. Although this new DSP should hit the sweet spot for a wide variety of low-cost applications, its performance is modest. Without discounting the value of the C5401 and its associated architecture, it's interesting to compare it with TI's latest- generation C55x architecture to see what's in store. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.mpronline.com/mpr/h/2000/1218/145103.html)

ColdFire Device Supports Telecom

ColdFire 5272 packs in many peripherals; including Ethernet, USB, and HDLCv

By Markus Levy {12/19/00-04}

Like elves preparing for Santa's big day, Motorola's ColdFire department has been busy cranking out new devices and a new core. In April of this year, the company delivered the MCF5407, the first standard chip based on the ColdFire Version 4 core (see MPR 05/15/00-01, "Motorola Thaws ColdFire V4").

Then, in October, Motorola announced the Version 4e ColdFire core at the Microprocessor Forum (see MPR 10/23/00-02, "ColdFire V4 Gets Even Hotter).

Now, just in time for the holidays, the elves are hammering out the MCF5272, a device that Motorola considers its most highly integrated ColdFire device to date. That's quite a claim, considering that it supplanted the MCF5407 as one of the nominees for this year's Analyst's Choice Awards.

Whereas the MCF5407 is basically a general-purpose device, the ColdFire Version 2 based MCF5272 targets low-cost communications applications. Its peripheral set includes a 10/100Mb Fast Ethernet MAC, a device-mode USB 1.1 module, a four-channel TDM controller, and ROM that contains tabular data for software-based HDLC. The MCF5272 is also the first ColdFire device to be packaged in a plastic BGA allowing Motorola to hit an $11.95 price point (10,000 units) for this well-endowed device. (The full version of this article is available online to Microprocessor Report subscribers at http://www.mpronline.com/mpr/h/2000/1218/145104.html .)