Embedded Processor Watch

Editor: Tom Halfhill

In This Issue:

• Jade Enriches MIPS Embedded Family
• Cahners MDR Launches Microprocessor Watch
• Industry Resources: Beat the Heat in Embedded Systems
• New Embedded IC Announcements

Jade Enriches MIPS Embedded Family

At the recent Embedded Processor Forum, Engineering Director David Courtright of MIPS Technologies unveiled two new architectures that will carry the Rx000 family toward the future of high-performance embedded cores and system-on-a-chip devices. The new architectures, known as MIPS32 and MIPS64, are 32- and 64-bit derivatives of existing MIPS architectures. Courtright also described the first two cores based on MIPS32: the 4Kc and the 4Kp, popularly known as Jade and Jade Lite.

MIPS32 and MIPS64 define two broad families of embedded processor cores. They still emphasize high performance, but they do so within the boundaries of lower power consumption, lower cost, and greater configurability. They are the first CPU cores that MIPS will deliver as synthesizable soft cores well as in the traditional form of hard macros. All this will give ASIC designers, embedded-system developers, and MIPS's semiconductor partners more freedom to customize the cores and integrate them with custom logic, memory, and on-chip peripherals.

So far, MIPS has announced two Jade cores: the higher-end MIPS32 4Kc and the lower-cost MIPS32 4Kp (Jade Lite). Both are compatible with application software compiled for the R3000 and for the R4000 in 32-bit mode. Both cores can run most embedded operating systems, but only the 4Kc can run Windows CE, because the 4Kp lacks a TLB.

The new architectures should strengthen the company's position against such competitors as ARC Cores and Tensilica that already offer configurable soft cores. Although the Jade cores are much less configurable, they're an important step in the right direction for MIPS. They also provide additional evidence that the industry is pushing chip design and integration further down the chain toward embedded developers. (The full version of this article appears in the May 31 issue of Microprocessor Report.)

Cahners MicroDesign Resources Launches Microprocessor Watch

Following the success of Embedded Processor Watch, Cahners MicroDesign Resources has launched another free weekly e-mail newsletter called Microprocessor Watch. It's dedicated to reporting and analyzing advances in microprocessors and system architecture for PCs, workstations, and servers. The editor is Michael Slater, the founder of Cahners MicroDesign Resources and one of the most respected analysts in the computer industry.

Both Microprocessor Watch and Embedded Processor Watch contain abbreviated versions of articles that appear in Microprocessor Report, our subscription newsletter. For example, a significant new microprocessor that merits a few paragraphs in Embedded Processor Watch or Microprocessor Watch will typically get four to six pages in Microprocessor Report.

None of our publications accepts advertising, and we are not affiliated with any microprocessor vendor. Cahners MicroDesign Resources is part of the Cahners Business Information Group. In addition to publishing the newsletters, we also publish books, reports, and CD-ROM libraries of back issues, and we organize the annual Microprocessor Forum and Embedded Processor Forum. Visit us at http://www.MDRonline.com.

To subscribe to Microprocessor Watch, send a message to mailto:join-mpw@list.MDRonline.com or go to http://www.MDRonline.com/mpw/. Back issues of Microprocessor Watch are available at the same URL.

Industry Resources: Beat the Heat in Embedded Systems

Take a break at the Sheraton Ferncroft Resort in Danvers, Mass., at the first annual Embedded Systems Conference Summer. Held June 28-30, the show features 56 technical classes and four full-day tutorials. In his keynote address, Larry Mittag, the chief scientist of Stellcom's embedded group, will discuss the convergence of embedded systems and desktop computing, a key theme of the conference.

The cost of admission is $495 for the Monday tutorials and $895 for the two-day conference. For more information or to register, contact Miller Freeman at 888.239.5563 or go to http://www.embedded.com/esc.htm.

New Embedded IC Announcements

DSP1695 (Lucent): a DSP for Internet applications that processes 16 simultaneous voice and data calls; it also supports 56-Kb/s modems, voice- and fax-over-IP, and wireless data transmissions. Price: $120/25,000; samples: 2Q99; production: 3Q99. Call Lucent at 800.372.2447.

ST72511R4 (STMicroelectronics): an 8-bit microcontroller with 16K32K of ROM/OTP/EPROM, 512K1M of RAM, CAN 2.0B passive I/F, and 44 multifunctional bidirectional I/O lines. Price: $2.50/100,000; production: now. Call STMicroelectronics at 781.861.2650.

ST72531R4 (STMicroelectronics): an 8-bit microcontroller with 16K of ROM/OTP/EPROM, 256 KB of EEPROM, CAN 2.0B passive I/F, and two 16-bit timers. Price: $5.00/100,000; production: now. Call STMicroelectronics at 781.861.2650.