ARM Processor Lowers Cost Of Networking

Offered as a cost-effective option for users to network-enable their designs, the NS7520 NET+ARM processor in a 177-pin BGA integrates a plethora of networking features. Included on the chip are a 32-bit ARM7TDMI RISC processor, 10/100-BaseT Ethernet MAC, 13-channel DMA controller, and a 2 KB RX buffer. The device comes in three versions operating at 32 MHz, 46 MHz or 55 MHz and with 1.5V core and 3.3V I/O voltages. Additional features include 32-bit ARM mode, 15 general purpose 32-bit registers, five supervisor modes, and one user mode. In terms of I/O, the chip has two independent HDLC/UART/SPI-compatible serial ports and 32-byte transmit and receive FIFOs. The bus interface provides five independently programmable chip selects and supports 8-, 16-, and 32-bit peripherals and external address decoding and cycle termination. Rounding out the chip are two independent 27-bit programmable timers, a programmable watchdog timer, and a programmable bus timer. The processor is supported by the NET+Works development package and integrated software. The package includes the ThreadX pico kernal RTOS, MULTI 2000 IDE or Microcross GNU X-tools from Green Hills Software, drivers, protocols, utilities, and support services. The NS7520 is priced from $7.95 each/10,000 and the NET+Works package is royalty free. The MULTI 2000 IDE or Microcross GNU X-tools start at $1,500. NETSILICON INC., Waltham, MA. (800) 243-2333.