Freescale Announces 45nm Multi-core Platform at FTF

Freescale Semiconductor unveiled a new 45nm multi-core SoC architecture communications platform at the Freescale Technology Forum in Orlando, Fla., on Monday. At the heart of the platform is CoreNet technology, a highly scalable fabric for on-chip connectivity, the company says. It is designed to eliminate bus contention, bottlenecks and latency issues associated with shared bus/shared memory architectures that are common in other multi-core approaches. The platform, the company said, will help engineers migrate to multi-core environments while preserving the value of legacy software investments. "Our new platform goes beyond simply adding more cores on a chip,” Lynelle McKay, senior vice president and general manager for Freescale’s Networking and Computing Systems Group, said in a release. “This is a comprehensive SoC architecture based on a cache-coherent and extensively scalable approach to multi-core design. We believe this platform and its ecosystem of enablement will unlock the real potential of multi-core processing, establish new industry benchmarks for total networking performance and dramatically streamline multi-core development." The multi-core platform includes an enhanced Power Architecture e500-mc core, based on the e500 core, targeting a top frequency of 1.5 GHz. Freescale also said it is working with virtualized software development firm Virtutech to create a hybrid simulation environment that combines Virtutech’s Simics technology with a Freescale cycle-accurate model of the platform. This goal is to enable developers to quickly switch between models for accurate performance prediction and accelerated development, the company said. Freescale expects to roll out a comprehensive roadmap of products based on the new Multi-core Communications Platform in late 2008. The simulation platform is expected out in the fourth quarter. Also at the conference, Freescale unveiled radio frequency (RF) technology to change the way consumers remotely control their home entertainment devices. The consumer electronics industry has used infrafred (IR) technology for more than 30 years to remotely control devices, according to Freescale. IR is facing limitations in controlling larger devices like plasma and LCD screens, as well as line-of-sight and distance issues. "Freescale's entertainment control platform is designed to enable a true point-to-point solution that can penetrate walls or even reach outside the home," Kurt Scherf, vice president and principal analyst for Park Associates, said in a statement. Consumer electronics products featuring Freescale's RF platform are anticipated in retail stores later this year, the company said.