Monday February 16, 9:02 am Eastern Time
Motorola Develops the World's First Reconfigurable Embedded System Technology
New CORE+ Technology Combines Efficiency of a Processor with the Flexibility of FPGAs on a Single Chip
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 16, 1998-- The industry's first family of reconfigurable chips that integrates a processor with field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), was today announced by Motorola's (NYSE:MOT - news) Semiconductor Products Sector. The CORE+(tm) technology provides the world's first reconfigurable printed circuit board (PCB) on a chip -- standard, diffused components plus programmable logic on a single silicon substrate.
The CORE+ family will enable designers to achieve single-chip system gate densities more than twice those of any FPGA technology. The embedded functionality of CORE+ products permits economic and technical capabilities superior to multi-chip solutions. As a result, the CORE+ family enables a faster time to market, lower cost and a much higher performance level than conventional FPGAs. Motorola's new CORE+ product line is designed for diverse product applications and is well-suited for the communications, industrial, networking, computing, consumer and transportation markets.
''The CORE+ technology roadmap reflects Motorola's commitment to the programmable marketplace and demonstrates our ability to develop sophisticated, yet simple-to-use, chip-level solutions containing our market-proven intellectual property,'' said Steve Hanson, general manager of Motorola Semiconductor Components Group. ''The CORE+ product line is a breakthrough because customers will realize significant performance enhancement, design freedom, and cost advantages over multi-chip implementations or software-based 'soft core' processor configurations. It will appeal to large and small customers alike.''
The first product in the CORE+ family will contain the industry's first hard diffused core, utilizing one unit from Motorola's world-class intellectual property (IP) warehouse combined with FPGA technology to enable all customers to design complete single chip solutions on their desktop. The MPACF250 is designed with Motorola's industry-leading 68K-compatible ColdFire(R) architecture. This standard core combines the architectural simplicity of 32-bit RISC with a memory-saving, variable-length instruction set. The combination of the ColdFire architecture and reconfigurable FPGAs on a single chip makes the most versatile and cost effective system solution available. Motorola will make its first CORE+ device available as soon as 3Q98.
The CORE+ family will be supported by schematic capture, simulation, logic synthesis, compiler, code debugging and in-circuit emulation tools from several vendors. The FPGA portion will be supported by the Motorola Programmable Array Design System software. The CORE+ technology combines processor and FPGA elements as multiple components on silicon, rather than PCB substrate. Conventional methods and tools can be applied to CORE+ solutions, preserving the customer's existing tool investments and expertise. In addition, CORE+ products will include the hardware debugging facilities built into many Motorola world-class processors.
Key benefits of CORE+ embedded FPGA products include:
Faster time to market
-- Reduced learning curve (standard processors, PCB on a chip tools)
-- Built-in processor-FPGA interfaces
-- Completely flexible hardware/software partition
Lower cost
-- Configurable processor-FPGA interfaces require no FPGA gates
-- Single package, small BGA footprint
-- Diffused, rather than FPGA-based core (10X smaller than FPGA)
High performance
-- Single chip - no external drivers or PCB connections
-- Embedded, configurable, processor-FPGA bus interfaces
-- Commonly used peripherals are also diffused
Access to Motorola's industry-standard IP warehouse
-- Processors and other high-value cores
-- Extensive applications engineering network
-- Industry standard processor development tools
The initial CORE+ device utilizes the Version 2 ColdFire core and includes many common system elements, including a configurable dual port SRAM, integrated cache memory, two DMA channels, and access to an intermediary three-level bus hierarchy for interface to FPGA logic and embedded RAM. Diffused peripherals include two Uarts, timer module, I2C Bus, an eight-bit programmable I/O port and the industry-leading ColdFire background debug module.
Pricing and availability of the first CORE+ device, the MPACF250, and subsequent family members, will be announced in 3Q98.
With 1997 worldwide sales of $8 billion, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector is committed to enabling its customers' success by providing systems solutions, processes and services to anticipate and respond to changing technologies and market dynamics. As the largest US-based, broad-line semiconductor supplier, the Motorola Sector delivers global resources, product design and development expertise and the highest-quality technology solutions to its customers. Motorola semiconductors power automobiles, communications and computing systems, and millions of other consumer products.
In the global marketplace, Motorola also is one of the leading providers of wireless communications, advanced electronic systems, components and services. Major equipment businesses include cellular telephone, two-way radio, paging and data communications, personal communications, automotive, defense and space electronics, and computers. Corporate sales in 1997 were $30 billion.
CORE+ is a trademark of Motorola, Inc. ColdFire is a registered trademark of Motorola, Inc.
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Contact:
Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector
Connie Schultejans, 602/732-2852
Fax: 602/732-5020
rpae50@email.sps.mot.com
or
Cunningham Communication Inc.
Bernard Walker, 602/956-9673
Fax: 602/956-5811
bwalker@ccipr.com
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