Posted: 11/30/98

Technical Data Freeway Inc. has announced what it calls the "the world's fastest 8051/8052 microcontroller core."

TDF president Fred Hinchliffe said the new RISC805x soft core, developed by Richard A. Watts Ltd. and marketed by TDF, executes most instructions in one cycle and is 12 times as fast as the standard part when running at the same clock frequency.

The RISC805x core is a synthesizable RTL description of an 8-bit 805x with additional hardware MAC and 16-bit extended instructions for DSP functionality. The core is also binary-compatible with the original 805x and thus can host legacy software.

The static synchronous design has no internal tristates. The core has a full 64k addressing range for program and data memory and a demultiplexed address/data bus to allow easy connection to memory.

Hinchliffe said the core can be delivered in multiple configurations. It can run at up to 100 MHz with 100-Mips performance or can be cranked down to a couple of milliwatts for use in portable applications.

He said the RISC805x is suited for telecommunications applications, where the DSP capability can replace slower software; consumer applications, in which battery operation and small die size are critical; and applications rich in legacy software, such as medical instrumentation, implantable devices and oil-field data logging.

TDF will configure the core to maximize each customer's requirements for gate count, area and functionality.

The core is available as synthesizable behavioral dataflow VHDL or dataflow Verilog or VHDL source code. It is supplied with a simulation model, which provides real-time trace disassembly of the code execution, allowing hardware/software coverification within the simulation environment. The company also provides full test vectors with the core.

Demo software and an evaluation board are also available, as is aversion of the core optimized for Altera FPGA implementation.

Free Subscription to EE Times First Name Last Name Company Name Title Email address   Click here for your Free Subscription to EETimes Europe