Tensilica rolls major upgrade to Diamond processor family

Santa Clara, CA – Tensilica has announced major enhancements to its Diamond Standard processors. The second-generation Diamond Standard processors feature additional multipliers and dividers, up to 30 percent lower memory power, and bridges for AXI-based AMBA systems. The second generation of the Diamond Standard processors is available now.

The Diamond Standard processor product line now includes five controller/CPUs and two digital signal processors (DSPs). The controllers include:

• Diamond 106Micro – the smallest licensable 32bit, ultra-low power, cache-less RISC controller (see separate release).

• Diamond 108Mini Rev B – an ultra-low power, cache-less RISC controller with tightly coupled local memories, a hardware multiplier and divider, rich interrupt architecture and minimal gate count for low silicon cost.

• Diamond 212GP Rev B – a mid-range RISC controller with DSP instructions, instruction/data caches, and tightly coupled local memories.

• Diamond 232L Rev B – a mid-range applications processor with DSP instructions and a Memory Management Unit (MMU) for Linux OS support.

• Diamond 570T Rev B. – a high-performance, 3-issue static superscalar applications processor with over twice the performance per MHz of an ARM11 (based on EEMBC benchmarks).

The two DSPs in the updated Diamond Standard Processor family are:

• Diamond 330HiFi Rev B– a low power 24-bit audio processor for all popular audio and speech codecs, based on the market-leading Xtensa HiFi 2 audio engine.

• Diamond 545CK Rev B– the highest performance licensable DSP on the market (based on BDTI Benchmarks) with a 3-issue VLIW (very long instruction word) processor.

The second generation Diamond Standard processors include three significant enhancements. First, the arithmetic capabilities of the controllers were significantly enhanced, reducing the need for external DSPs. An integer divider was added to the Diamond controllers (Diamond108Mini, Diamond 212GP, Diamond 232L, and Diamond 570T). This hardware divider significantly improves the performance of these processors on applications like GPS, automotive applications, motor control, and engine control. A 32x32 single-cycle, pipelined multiplier has been added to the Diamond 108Mini, Diamond 212GP, and Diamond 232L processors, thereby improving the performance of these processors on common DSP algorithms. (The Diamond 570T already had a multiplier.)

Second, edge-triggered interrupts were added to all Diamond Standard processors, easing system design and giving faster interrupt response than level-triggered interrupts. Now, all Diamond Standard processors are available with up to 22 interrupts and 6 priority levels.

Third, Tensilica added support for relocatable exception vectors, which enables customers to change the memory location of exception handlers in software post-silicon. This gives more flexibility to the designer and eases system design.

For more information, see http://www.tensilica.com/.

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