ARM releases EDA tools to support high-performance, low-power SoC design

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ARM releases EDA tools to support high-performance, low-power SoC design [Copy link]

ARM recently announced the launch of the next-generation ARM PrimeCell AMBA 3 AXI Configurable Interconnect (PL 301) and AMBA Designer Ecosystem Edition design automation toolsfor embedded system design at the Design Automation Conference (DAC) held in San Francisco, California, USA

The two new Fabric family products provide designers with an effective way to manage on-chip communication flows in next-generation system-on-chip ( SoC ) designs, resulting in significantly improved system performance while also improving power savings.

Several partners have licensed the Configurable Interconnect solution through ARM, including Agere Systems and Toshiba Corporation.

Takashi Yoshimori, director of SoC design technology at Toshiba Group Semiconductor Company, said: "One of Toshiba's main areas of focus is to continuously improve the quality and practicality of next-generation consumer electronics products through leading-edge innovation, which is why ARM's design solutions based on the AMBA protocol are so important. ARM is the industry's AMBA expert, and has a deep understanding of semiconductor manufacturers' needs for IP, which helps us stay at the forefront of the consumer electronics market."

"ARM's AMBA-based solutions enable Agere to create next-generation SoC designs that optimize performance and power efficiency," said Gene Scuteri, vice president of engineering for Agere's Networking Division. "The continued evolution of ARM's AMBA solutions and the AMBA Designer tool suite help us develop the best system solutions for the networking market."

By using the AMBA Designer tool and Configurable Interconnect, system architects can create fully optimized register transfer level (RTL) design documents in a SPIRIT-compatible document format by simply clicking a button. In this way, the AMBA Designer tool together with PrimeCell Configurable Interconnect and peripheral IP can quickly generate a complete Fabric system design package that can be directly used for IC implementation and manufacturing.

Jonathan Morris, general manager, Fabric, ARM, said: “ARM, together with some of the leading semiconductor companies, is addressing the need to design complex SoCs as efficiently as possible with the comprehensive AMBA design protocol, an industry-wide concern. This latest AMBA announcement underscores ARM’s commitment to delivering an ecosystem of system IP and support for EDA tool providers, and highlights ARM’s commitment to working closely with designers to ensure innovative solutions are delivered to their customers as quickly as possible.”

ARM PrimeCell AMBA 3 AXI Configurable Interconnect

ARM PrimeCell peripherals are reusable soft IP macro cells that enable rapid integration into SoC designs. The new generation AMBA 3 AXI Configurable Interconnect (PL301) is ARM's latest PrimeCell solution, designed to promote standardization in the SoC Interconnect market.

The PL301 solution provides design teams with a wide range of configurability and usage, helping them achieve high-level performance goals in major consumer applications such as mobile communications, automotive electronics, and network infrastructure. Together with the AMBA Designer tool, the PL310 solution greatly shortens the design cycle from months and weeks to days and minutes, providing optimized solutions for all designs.

The PL301 solution extends the Fabric IP portfolio to fully exploit the performance of the ARM11 MPCore multiprocessor, ARM1176JZ(F)-S processor, ARM1156T2(F)-S processor, as well as the Cortex-R4 and Cortex-A8 processors.

AMBA Designer Ecosystem Edition

The new AMBA Designer tool is based on ARM's industry-proven RealView SoC Designer electronic system-level (ESL) solution, allowing engineers to seamlessly configure, model and simulate AMBA AXI Interconnect and ARM PrimeCell peripherals. For the first time, this is possible for ARM PrimeCell.

The AMBA Designer electronic design automation (EDA) tool simplifies the process for system architects to achieve the optimal configuration of PrimeCell peripherals. PrimeCell IP is designed to provide unparalleled configurability and optimized performance/power/size (PPA); when used with the AMBA Designer tool, PrimeCell has the potential to significantly reduce implementation costs and shorten time to market. The variety of options available with configurable Fabric IP presents a new and often very time-consuming challenge to design teams. By using the AMBA Designer tool, system architects can achieve the optimized IP configuration with minimal time and risk.

Availability

The ARM PrimeCell AMBA 3 AXI Configurable Interconnet and AMBA Designer Ecosystem Edition design automation tools are available now through ARM licensing.