XMOS wants you to try making lots of threads with its $99 XC-1 development system, which is home to a four-core XS1-G processor (see “Multicore And Soft Peripherals Target Multimedia Applications” at www.electronicdesign.com, ED Online 16231). It can handle up to 32 real-time threads and up to 400 Mevents/s. Two high-speed XLink ports allow multiple chips to be connected together (see the figure). The chip has 256 kbytes of RAM and is set up to drive a speaker using a 1-bit software digital-to-analog converter (DAC). The board brings out 60 I/O pins. A Web-based tool suite is provided.
Reprints
