Summary of Freescale and IPextreme Expand Licensing of ColdFire Cores
Freescale Semiconductor expanded its ColdFire licensing program via IPextreme, offering the 32-bit V4 core to SoC designers. This collaboration markets V1, V2, and V4 cores for integration into single-chip ICs. The V4 core delivers over 500 MIPS with low cost and small size, featuring Harvard architecture and superscalar support. It targets compute-intensive applications like lighting control, automation, and patient monitoring. The ecosystem includes CodeWarrior software and Tower prototyping systems to reduce development time and costs.
Parts used in the ColdFire Licensing Program:
- V1 ColdFire core
- V2 ColdFire core
- V4 ColdFire core
- CodeWarrior software suite
- Tower rapid prototyping system
- Altera Cyclone III devices (for free V1 version)
- ASIC customers
- FPGA customers
Campbell, CA (PRWEB) September 16, 2010
Freescale Semiconductor is expanding its ColdFire licensing program by offering its 32-bit V4 ColdFire core to the embedded community through IPextreme, a semiconductor technology licensing specialist. Working in collaboration with Freescale, IPextreme will now market, sell and support Freescales V1, V2 and V4 ColdFire cores to system-on-chip (SoC) designers seeking to integrate the cores and other functions onto single-chip ICs.
The V4 ColdFire core delivers exceptional performance – more than 500 MIPS – while maintaining a low cost and small size. Upward compatibility from V1 to V2 and V4 provides a smooth roadmap to higher performance designs, giving customers exceptional design flexibility. The V4 ColdFire core is ideal for compute-intensive consumer and industrial applications such as lighting control systems, environmental and building automation, access control panels and patient monitoring systems.
This announcement underscores the success of the alliance between IPextreme and Freescale with respect to making the ColdFire architecture available to SoC designers around the globe, said Warren Savage, CEO of IPextreme. The ColdFire IP cores are among our most popular products due to their best in class area, code-density, and performance and are easy to use due to their high quality design, maturity, ease-of-integration, and vast ecosystem of development tools and software.
ColdFire remains one of the industrys most extensive 32-bit development and support ecosystems, said Jeff Bock, director of marketing for Industrial and Multi-market microcontrollers at Freescale. The alliance with IPextreme is providing an exceptionally cost-effective entry point to ColdFire architectures that has allowed us to break into new markets.
IPextreme will market the synthesizable V4 to its ASIC and FPGA customers. The ColdFire MCU family is supported by world-class development tools, including the CodeWarrior software suite, the Tower rapid prototyping system and professional tools from Freescales third-party partners, helping customers eliminate months of development time while drastically reducing development costs.
Freescale launched the ColdFire licensing program in 2006 with the availability of its V2 ColdFire core through IPextreme and added V1 ColdFire in 2008 that included the availability of a free version of the core for Alteras Cyclone III devices through IPextremes Core Store
About the V4 ColdFire core
The ColdFire V4 core implements a number of advanced techniques, including a Harvard memory architecture, branch cache acceleration logic, and limited superscalar support (dual-instruction issue), which contribute to over 500 MIPS performance level. Increasing the internal speed of the core also allows higher performance while providing the system designer with an easy-to-use lower speed system interface.
License pricing and availability
The V4 ColdFire core is available for licensing now.
For more information about the Freescale ColdFire licensing program, visit: http://www.freescale.com/files/pr/coldfirelicensing.html
For more information about the ColdFire cores or to obtain a license to the V1, V2 or V4 cores from IPextreme, visit the IPextreme website at http://www.ip-extreme.com.
About IPextreme, Inc. IPextreme packages, delivers and supports famous IP designed by large semiconductor companies and used by SoC designers worldwide. These production-proven IP products serve both broad horizontal markets and specific verticals such as consumer and automotive, and are provided in a process-independent and EDA-neutral format for easy use by the widest range of customers. With a decade of experience in developing, packaging, licensing and supporting IP, IPextreme offers a complete business solution that allows semiconductor companies to strategically leverage their internal IP portfolios and expand overall revenue. The company has offices in Campbell, California; Munich, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan with representatives in China, India, Israel, Korea, and Taiwan. For additional information, please visit http://www.ip-extreme.com.
About Freescale Semiconductor
Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations around the world. http://www.freescale.com.
Media Contacts:
Americas
Andy North
Freescale Semiconductor
(512) 996-4418
andy(dot)north(at)freescale(dot)com
Emilie Salvagio
Lois Paul & Partners
(512) 638-5321
emilie_salvagio(at)lpp(dot)com
Asia Pacific
Gloria Shiu
Freescale Semiconductor
(85-22) 666-8237
gloria(dot)shiu(at)freescale(dot)com
Europe, Middle East and Africa
Laurent Massicot
Freescale Semiconductor
(33-16) 935-7712
laurent(dot)massicot(at)freescale(dot)com
India
Anjali Srivastava
Freescale Semiconductor
(91-120) 395-0000
anjali(dot)srivastava(at)freescale(dot)com
Japan
Masako Tanikawa
Freescale Semiconductor
(81-3) 5437-9128
Masako(dot)tanikawa(at)freescale(dot)com
Freescale, the Freescale logo, ColdFire and CodeWarrior are trademarks of Freescale
Semiconductor, Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
- Who is providing the ColdFire V4 core?
Freescale Semiconductor is offering the core through a collaboration with IPextreme. - What performance does the V4 ColdFire core deliver?
The core delivers more than 500 MIPS while maintaining low cost and small size. - Which applications are ideal for the V4 ColdFire core?
It is ideal for compute-intensive consumer and industrial applications such as lighting control and patient monitoring. - How does the V4 core ensure upward compatibility?
Upward compatibility from V1 to V2 and V4 provides a smooth roadmap to higher performance designs. - What development tools support the ColdFire MCU family?
Support includes the CodeWarrior software suite and the Tower rapid prototyping system. - When was the ColdFire licensing program launched?
Freescale launched the program in 2006 with the V2 core available through IPextreme. - Can designers obtain a free version of the V1 core?
Yes, a free version of the V1 core is available for Alteras Cyclone III devices. - What advanced techniques does the V4 core implement?
It implements Harvard memory architecture, branch cache acceleration logic, and limited superscalar support.
