January 21st, 2009 ~ by admin
Marvell, well known for its networking chips, also makes many storage controller solutions and other SoC’s. Marvell currently has two ARM cored lines, the Xscale series (purchased from Intel a year ago) and the Feroceon, a customized ARM core developed by Marvell (they actually have a complete ARM architecture liscense which gives them the ability to design ARM cores beyond the premade IP blocks)
This 88F5182 is a 400MHz processor that I found in a Lacie NAS drive. It has 64K of L1 cache and supports 200MHz DDR2 RAM (64MB of which was included in this Lacie drive)
Marvell 88F5182-A2-C400
Really a pretty impressive device for a networked storage device.
January 16th, 2009 ~ by admin
Today while browsing the teardown section on Embedded.com I came across an article about a Kodak picture frame. At its heart was a processor by a company called Amlogic. They make among other things, processors for digital picture frames. Their website doesnt have much more info about their products. It appears many of their devices are based on a variety of ARM cores (as often is the case.
If anyone knows anything more about this company, or its interesting processors, let us know
January 13th, 2009 ~ by admin
When you think of multi-core CPU’s what comes to mind? Intel? AMD? Perhaps Nvidia, but certainly not TI.
Alas though, the embedded CPU/MCU market is by far the largest user of multicore CPU’s. Many systems controllers have an ARM main core, and then a MCS-51 core for IO stuff, or another ARM core. The iPhone has no less then 3 ARM cores in it.
TI just released the MSP430FE42X2, in large quantities its a mere $1 US. It includes 2 complete MSP430 cores, along with an LCD driver, and 32K of Flash. Where will you find it? Its marketed as a complete power meter solution, only other component needed to measure your houses power draw is a voltage regulator.
MSP430 Power Meter
The future of embedded computing IS multi-core controllers/ASICs
Source: TI (Texas Instruments)
January 13th, 2009 ~ by admin
Intel…err Marvel, who bought the Xscale line FROM Intel has just released the latest in the Xscale line up. The PXA168 wich is an ARM9 core with all the toppings (Ethernet, flash interface, USB etc). Built on a 55nm process it achieves speeds of up to 1GHz while pulling merely 1Watt of power.
Whats it for? “Web connected digital photo frames” says Marvell
Thats an incredible amount of CPU for a picture frame but it is the direction things are going. CPU’s like this are making coding much faster and easier, your embedded code can be very bloated, and inefficient, which equals faster development cycles and quicker profits.
Source: EEProductCenter.com
