Freescale’s QorIQ series builds on the
venerable PowerQUICC lines. PowerQUICC
will remain, but the QorIQ is
where the power is. The P4 series starts
with the eight-core P4080, which uses
Freescale’s CoreNET on-chip interconnect
to deliver high performance while
keeping power requirements low (see
the figure). The one- and two-core P1
series offers even lower requirements.
Multicore silicon-on-insulator (SOI)
designs place more demands on programmers
at 45 nm. But with QorIQ,
they will get more powerful tools. A pair
of serializer/deserializers (SERDES)
utilizing the Aurora protocol can stream
debugging and trace information offchip
at rates on par with the other highspeed
serial interfaces on the chip.
Serial interfaces are the norm for
QorIQ, with choices of PCI Express,
Serial RapidIO, XAUI, and a range of
Ethernet interfaces. Developers can
configure various combinations to meet
design requirements.
The pattern-matching and encryption/
security engines can run at 10G
speeds. This is critical for communication
applications where the chips will
find a home.
Developers will get an early look at
the chips via Virtutech Simics (see “Simulate
Multicore Systems Before Silicon” at
www.electronicdesign.com, ED Online
16136). The approach is also great for
debugging.
FREESCALE
www.freescale.com