Fujitsu to Launch ARM1176 Prototyping Kit

As digital audio-visual equipment increasingly features higher and more multiple functionalities, embedded system LSIs have become larger and more complicated, heightening the importance and need for more streamlined development cycles.

In order to shorten development lead times for system LSIs used in digital audio-visual equipment that process still or moving images - such as digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and mobile phones - in addition to logic simulation, it is mandatory to execute verification in an environment that resembles as closely as possible the actual resulting system LSI.

Through its ASIC and COT services, for customers developing system LSIs using the ARM926EJ-S and ARM946E-S processor cores, FML already offers a prototyping kit that includes an evaluation board with LSIs and FPGAs for evaluation, as well as an FPGA reference design. FML will offer a new prototyping kit for the ARM1176JZF-S, for which demand is growing.

Customers can use the prototyping kit when developing high-performance system LSIs capable of image processing, for example, to debug both their hardware and software in an environment that closely resembles the actual system LSI, thereby enabling "first-shot full operation" of engineering samples, thus further shortening the development lead time.

Key Product Features

1. Verification can be performed in near real conditions
   Performance of the external AXI bus - which connects the evaluation LSI for ARM processors on the evaluation board with the FPGA loaded with the customer's logic circuit - was improved by a range of from 8 times to up to 16 times (FML comparison) compared to previously available products. This makes it possible for customers to verify their own logic under conditions that closely resemble the resulting system LSI. Due to the fact that system LSIs for still images or video processing take a considerable amount of time to verify using logic simulation, practical testing that resembles the actual system LSI environment can shorten the development lead time.
   
2. FPGA reference design helps shorten LSI development lead time
   Because the FPGA reference design includes dummy modules that comply with industry-standard advanced microcontroller bus architecture (AMBA⁽⁴⁾), customers can simply switch the dummy modules with their own modules to easily build a prototype design of a system LSI based on the ARM1176JZF-S.
   Using this FPGA, customers can verify their custom logic and develop device drivers before the system LSI has been fabricated, thereby reducing the development lead time. The evaluation board is compatible with the HapsTrak specification of the prototyping board from Synplicity, with an expandable FPGA domain.
   

Glossary & Notes

1 ASIC:

Application-specific IC. A custom IC for specific applications (customers).

2 COT:

Customer-owned tooling. Refers to customers designing and developing their own chips. Unlike mere foundry business, the LSI manufacturer collaborates with the customer from the design stage.

3 FPGA:

FieldField-programmable gate array. A chip in which logical operation can be reprogrammed after manufacture.

4 AMBA:

Advanced microcontroller bus architecture. An industry-standard SoC (System on Chip) on-chip bus from ARM.

Attachment

PDF Key specifications [15KB]

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About Fujitsu Microelectronics (FML)
Fujitsu Microelectronics Limited (FML) is a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) manufacturer that provides highly reliable, optimal solutions to meet the varying needs of its customers, through LSI offerings including ASIC/COT, ASSP and power management ICs, and flash microcontrollers. Along with building on its wide-range expertise focusing on imaging, wireless, and security LSI applications, FML also pursues initiatives for power efficiency and undertakes environmentally-conscious countermeasures. Headquartered in Tokyo, FML was established as a subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited on March 21, 2008. Through its global sales and development network with sites in Japan and other regions in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., FML offers LSI solutions to the global marketplace. For more information: http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/fml/en/

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