Cool, Quiet Home Entertainment Enabled by Next-Generation PowerPC Processors from Freescale.ORLANDO, Fla. -- Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. is an American semiconductor manufacturer. It was created by the divestiture of the Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola in 2004. Freescale focuses their integrated circuit products on the automotive, embedded and communications markets. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :FSL FSL - Formal Semantics Language. A language for compiler writing. ["A Formal Semantics for Computer Languages and its Application in a Compiler-Compiler", J.A. Feldman, CACM 9(1) (Jan 1966)]. [Sammet 1969, p. 641]. ) (NYSE:FSL.B) --MPC7448 processors containing PowerPC(R) cores offer exceptional performance per watt for pervasive computing Refers to the use of computers in everyday life, including PDAs, smartphones and other mobile devices. It also refers to computers contained in commonplace objects such as cars and appliances and implies that people are unaware of their presence. and networking applications This week, Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is showcasing its latest high-performance PowerPC(R) processor, MPC (1) (Mobile PC) A handheld or laptop computer. See handheld computer, laptop computer and Ultra-Mobile PC. (2) (MultiPath Channel) See multipath. 7448, which represents the most significant update to the MPC74xx family of processors to date. The flexible MPC7448 processor brings new possibilities to pervasive computing applications by offering extensive compute efficiency combined with world-class power management. The MPC7448 also optimally addresses embedded networking applications, which are the bedrock of the PowerPC processor market. "Developers of solutions for home entertainment, gaming, Web applications, and self-service kiosks of all kinds need economical and flexible ways to build high-performance systems," said David Perkins, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's Networking and Computing Systems Group. "The MPC7448 PowerPC processor offers exceptional performance per watt for these compute-intensive applications, and by leveraging Linux(R) OS in these applications, developers get maximum design flexibility." The MPC7448 processor, based on Freescale's e600 PowerPC core, is expected to offer speeds from 600 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. to 1.7 GHz with the system bus running up to 200 MHz. The MPC7448 is the first product in the MPC74xx family to use Freescale's 90 nanometer (nm) silicon-on-insulator (SOI (Silicon On Insulator) A chip architecture that increases transistor switching speed by reducing capacitance (build-up of electrical charges in the transistor's elements), and thus reducing the discharge time. The power requirement is also reduced in some designs. ) CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) Pronounced "c-moss." The most widely used integrated circuit design. It is found in almost every electronic product from handheld devices to mainframes. process, which significantly increases clock and bus speeds with substantial power reductions. The cool MPC7448 offers GHz-class performance at less than 10 Watts -- highly advantageous for systems that require fanless operation. The MPC7448 power management features also include nap and sleep modes and introduce dynamic frequency switching that permits software to reduce power "on the fly." "Freescale's new MPC7448 continues a tradition of steadily increasing the performance of PowerPC-based embedded processors while effectively managing power consumption," said Tom R. Halfhill, a senior analyst at In-Stat's Microprocessor Report. "With its improved AltiVec throughput, 1MB L2 cache, and low-power characteristics, the MPC7448 lends itself to new applications beyond its traditional computing and networking markets." The e600 PowerPC core includes AltiVec(TM) technology, a single instruction multiple data (SIMD (Single Instruction stream Multiple Data stream) A computer that performs one operation on multiple sets of data. It is typically used to add or multiply eight or more sets of numbers at the same time for multimedia encoding and rendering as well as scientific ) engine well-known for its ability to accelerate networking applications, such as security algorithms, network stack processing, routing and more. AltiVec technology is ideal for 2D and 3D graphics associated with video playback and recording, static imaging, gaming, Web browsing and e-commerce, including the implementation of CODEC (compression/decompression) algorithms. Hopen Software, a China-based company creating software for home media devices, sees great opportunity in developing software for the PowerPC architecture. "The MPC7448 PowerPC processor offers a compelling performance-to-power ratio making it an excellent choice for system implementations for the home entertainment market," said Ding Wei, COO of Hopen Ltd. "Additionally, the AltiVec engine allows Hopen to provide support for a wide range of CODECs The following is a list of codecs. Audio codecs Non-compression formats
Development Resources To help enable faster development of pervasive computing and networking applications on the MPC7448, Freescale is offering the High Performance Computing (HPC (Handheld PC) A palmtop computer that weighs less than one pound and runs specialized versions of popular applications. Microsoft coined the term for its Windows CE operating system, which is an abbreviated version of Windows. See Pocket PC. ) II platform. This general-purpose reference design integrates the MPC7448 processor with Tundra's Tsi108 system controller to provide a high-performance, low-power development environment. "Tundra applauds the addition of the MPC7448 to Freescale's 74xx line of high-performance PowerPC processors," says Jonathan Morris, Director of Product Management of PowerPC. "The Tundra Tsi108 and Tsi108A host bridges combined with the MPC7448 provide designers with unprecedented system performance without sacrificing power. For over a decade, our companies have focused on progressive investment in complementary roadmaps for our embedded networking customers and for pervasive computing applications such as printers and servers." The HPC II platform is sampling now and is being demonstrated at Freescale Technology Forum through June 23. HPC II hardware design files are available today with general platform availability planned for October 2005. EEMBC EEMBC EDN Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (Electronic Design News Magazine) (R) (Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium) certified performance benchmark scores for MPC7448 are available now at www.eembc.org. These scores reflect the continual advancement of performance for Freescale's high-performance PowerPC products in all benchmark categories, including significant performance improvements in TCP/IP TCP/IP in full Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol Standard Internet communications protocols that allow digital computers to communicate over long distances. and digital entertainment. Comprising more than 69 benchmark tests, EEMBC's Digital Entertainment benchmark (DENbench(TM)) suite gives developers a sophisticated set of tools for evaluating the performance of embedded processors in their multimedia systems. The MPC7448 scored 350.8 in the DENbench suite "out-of-the-box," and with AltiVec engine optimization, the MPC7448 scored 762.0 -- more than doubling the application performance. All EEMBC scores were achieved on a 1.7 GHz MPC7448 processor in the HPC II platform using the Green Hills compiler version 4.02. The PowerPC architecture has broad software application support across the computing, networking, and automotive markets, with examples ranging from LAMP (Linux, Apache Web server See Apache. , MySQL, PHP/Perl) solution stack for dynamic Web sites to software for automotive telematics and in-vehicle communications. Freescale maintains strong alliances with leading software vendors to help ensure that software -- from real-time operating systems to leading tools to applications -- is available when the processor is available. Linux OS offerings for MPC7448 span a full range of technologies from symmetric multiprocessing and enterprise through high availability, including Carrier Grade Linux A specification that defines an industrial strength operating system environment using Linux. Carrier Grade Linux (CGL) covers hardware, availability, clustering, security, serviceability and performance. , combined with tools for application development and debugging, such as CodeWarrior(TM) from Freescale. The MPC7448 is supported by well-known embedded Linux OS providers such as MontaVista, TimeSys and Wind River. In addition, Freescale cooperates with Linux developers from the open source community to enable support for new PowerPC platforms. "Wind River continues to optimize solutions, such as Wind River Platform for Network Equipment on Freescale's PowerPC family, to provide telecom device manufacturers with a tightly integrated and complete device development solution," said John Fanelli, vice president of product planning and management, Wind River. "Wind River is committed to a strong relationship with Freescale to align our joint product roadmaps and expand platform support including Linux, VxWorks and Workbench, to offer our joint customers a powerful, standards-based DSO See CSO. solution that addresses the full lifecycle of their device software development needs." Compatibility: Dual Core PowerPC Processor and Beyond The MPC7448 is a seamless step up in performance that demonstrates Freescale's continued commitment to developing compatible high-performance PowerPC processors for the embedded market. It is also a stepping stone to the MPC8641D dual-core processor based on the same e600 PowerPC core. The MPC7448 and MPC8641D share many architectural similarities that make them highly compatible, including support for asymmetric and symmetric multiprocessing, identical 32KB L1 cache and 1MB L2 cache, and identical AltiVec technology attributes and performance. The same customer application binary code can run on the MPC7448 and MPC8641D. Freescale's high-performance PowerPC product roadmap will continue to see innovations in performance per watt and multi-processing architectures. Availability, Pricing and Packaging The MPC7448 has been sampling since February 2005 and is planned to be in full production in October 2005. The MPC7448 running at 1 GHz is offered at a suggested retail price of US$100 for 10K volume quantities. Please consult with a Freescale sales representative for pricing at other speeds and quantities. MPC7448 comes in two package options: HiCTE Land Grid Array The land grid array (LGA) is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits. It can be electrically connected to a PCB either by the use of a socket or by soldering directly to the PCB. (LGA LGA abbr. large for gestational age LGA Large for gestational age, see there ) package and HiCTE ceramic Ball Grid Array CBGA (Ceramic Ball Grid Array) is a type of package design for microcontrollers and IC(Integrated circuit). (BGA (Ball Grid Array) A popular surface mount chip package that uses a grid of solder balls as its connectors. Available in plastic and ceramic varieties, BGA is noted for its compact size, high lead count and low inductance, which allows lower voltages to be used. ) package -- both of which are Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) compliant. About Freescale Semiconductor Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NYSE:FSL) (NYSE:FSL.B) is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. Freescale became a publicly traded company publicly traded company A company whose shares of common stock are held by the public and are available for purchase by investors. The shares of publicly traded firms are bought and sold on the organized exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. in July 2004 after more than 50 years as part of Motorola, Inc. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries. Freescale, a member of the S&P 500(R), is one of the world's largest semiconductor companies with 2004 sales of $5.7 billion (US). www.freescale.com Reader Inquiry Response: Freescale Semiconductor P.O. Box 17927 Denver, CO 80217 USA Freescale(TM) and the Freescale logo are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor Inc. The "PowerPC" name is a trademark of IBM (International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY, www.ibm.com) The world's largest computer company. IBM's product lines include the S/390 mainframes (zSeries), AS/400 midrange business systems (iSeries), RS/6000 workstations and servers (pSeries), Intel-based servers (xSeries) Corp. and used under license. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. (C) Freescale Semiconductor Inc. 2005. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion