Digital ICs/DSP: System Controller For PowerPCs Packs The Most Support Functions

Feb. 16, 2006

A system controller that supports PowerPCbased system solutions, the Discovery V chip provides a full subsystem to support the host CPU. To support high-speed I/O transfers, the chip packs three 1-Gbit Ethernet interfaces, two USB 2.0 ports, a four-lane PCI Express interface, and both 64- and 32-bit 133-MHz PCI-X interfaces. Also integrated on the chip are a 72-bit wide DDR1/2 SDRAM controller, several serial UARTs, multiple DMA controllers, a general-purpose 16-bit interface, and a 200-MHz bus interface to the host CPU. An internal crossbar switch allows an "any-to-any" connection capability to enable multiple concurrent transactions. The chip is software-compatible with the company's Discovery III chip to allow software to run on the upgraded hardware. A complete development platform for Discovery V enables customers to start system development without waiting for their own hardware. Development platforms, including the Freescale MPC7447A/7448A and IBM750FL/GL, will be available when Discovery V samples in this quarter. Contact the company for volume pricing.

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Marvell Semiconductor Inc.
www.marvell.com

About the Author

Dave Bursky

Technologist

Dave Bursky, the founder of New Ideas in Communications, a publication website featuring the blog column Chipnastics – the Art and Science of Chip Design. He is also president of PRN Engineering, a technical writing and market consulting company. Prior to these organizations, he spent about a dozen years as a contributing editor to Chip Design magazine. Concurrent with Chip Design, he was also the technical editorial manager at Maxim Integrated Products, and prior to Maxim, Dave spent over 35 years working as an engineer for the U.S. Army Electronics Command and an editor with Electronic Design Magazine.