NEC Electronics Sets New Bar for ARM Processor Core Performance

Raising the bar for ARM® processor performance, NEC Electronics Corporation today unveiled two 32-bit ARM processor cores that can be used with NEC Electronics’ proven system-on-chip (SoC) design methodology to develop high-speed solutions for networking, wireless, digital consumer, imaging, storage, automotive and industrial applications. NEC Electronics’ 90-nanometer (nm), 700 MHz (931 MHz under nominal process conditions) dual-core implementation of the ARM11™ MPCore™ multicore processor is the highest-performing ARM processor core on the market, while the NEC Electronics-implemented ARM926EJ-S™ processor core is the industry’s fastest at 130 nm, clocking in at 400 MHz (532 MHz under nominal process conditions).

“Capable of executing more than 2200 Dhrystone MIPS under nominal conditions, NEC Electronics’ dual-core implementation of the ARM11 MPCore is the highest-performance implementation available today. The processor is well suited to high-speed consumer, enterprise and networking applications that are typically served by much more expensive processors,” said John Goodacre, Program Manager, Multiprocessing, ARM. “For value markets, the NEC Electronics implementation of the 130 nm ARM926EJ-S processor is the industry’s fastest in its class.”

Fast Processors Meet Varied Market Requirements
Based on the ARM11 microarchitecture, the 700 MHz (worst-case process, temperature and voltage) ARM11 MPCore is implemented using NEC Electronics’ 90 nm process technology and delivers ultra-high performance through multiprocessing at a lower frequency than comparable single-processor solutions, which can result in significant cost savings for system designers. Full compatibility with existing electronic design automation (EDA) tools and flows can simplify otherwise complex multiprocessor design development and reduce time to market and design costs.

NEC Electronics’ new implementation of the ARM926EJ-S processor achieves a speed of 400 MHz (worst-case process, temperature and voltage) and is available for implementation with NEC Electronics’ 130 nm ASIC technology. The high-performance operation at this node can reduce design costs and mitigate the risks associated with moving to smaller geometries.

This digital signal processor (DSP)-enhanced 32-bit RISC processor is well suited to applications requiring a mix of DSP and microcontroller (MCU) functionality in the digital consumer, imaging, storage, automotive and industrial markets. In addition to signal-processing extensions to enhance 16-bit fixed-point performance using a single-cycle 32 x 16 multiply-accumulate (MAC) unit, the ARM926EJ-S processor incorporates ARM’s Jazelle technology that enables direct execution of Java byte codes in hardware and a 16-bit ARM Thumb instruction set that shrinks code size and, consequently, reduces system cost.

“Through its strategic relationship with ARM, NEC Electronics is able to offer a wide range of processor cores based on an architecture that combines high performance with low power consumption and low system cost,” said Kazu Yamada, vice president and general manager, Custom SoC Solutions strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America, Inc. “The 700 MHz and 400 MHz cores announced today demonstrate NEC Electronics’ ability to combine design expertise with leading-edge process technologies to develop ARM-based processor solutions that meet exacting system requirements.”

Availability
The silicon-proven 400 MHz ARM926EJ-S processor is currently available in NEC Electronics’ CB-130M IP library. The 700 MHz ARM11 MPCore multicore processor is scheduled to be available for SoC integration before the end of 2007 in the CB-90M IP library. Both processors are available for either cell-based IC (CB-IC) or customer-owned tooling (COT) applications. More information can be found at www.necel.com/cbic/en/core/digital.html . (Availability is subject to change.)