ICs Said To Be First 32-Bit Configurable SoCs

Reported to be the industry's first 32-bit configurable system-on-chip (CSoC) family, the A7 series consists of four devices, each incorporating a processor core from ARM. And in addition to their ARM7TDMI processor core rated at up to 60 MHz, the devices also integrate on-chip a 32-bit wide data path, 16 KB of RAM, and a number of dedicated system features, including cache memory, a four-channel DMA controller, an external memory interface unit, and system debug capabilities. The features, in turn, are integrated with the company's dedicated system bus and embedded programmable logic.
As to the specific CSoCs, the TA7S05 provides 512 Configurable System Logic (CSL) cells and is housed in a 208QFP, the TA7S12 also comes in a 208QFP but offers 1,152 CSL cells, and the TA7S20 and TA7S32 provide 2,048 and 3,200 CSL cells, respectively, and come in either 208QFP or 456BGA packages. The devices are designed to provide a high degree of system-level integration and user configurability, with the company also partnering with Wind River Systems Inc. and Embedded Performance Inc. to provide users with the resources needed to implement advanced embedded solutions for the CSoC--namely, extensive pc board prototyping support packages for Embedded Performance's A7 Application Development Board and for Wind River Systems's VxWorks RTOS and Tornado II embedded development tools.
The TA7S20 is available now, with TA7S05, TA7S32 and TA7S12 to become available in the first, second and third quarters of 2001, respectively. Pricing starts at $12.95 each/10,000.