Sonics Answers Challenge of Designing Embedded SoCs Containing Multiple IP Blocks

Turn-Key Solution Solves Complex On-chip Connectivity Problems

MILPITAS, Calif., - May 5, 2009 – Sonics, Inc.®, a premier supplier of intelligent on-chip communications solutions has announced the Sonics Network for AMBA® Protocol or SNAP™. The product is a cost-effective, turn-key solution designed to simplify the on-chip bus design for complex embedded SoCs by turning multilayer bus designs into an IP block. SNAP’s easy-to-use development environment allows developers to quickly and intuitively capture their design with little or no training.

SNAP is particularly suited for embedded wireless, home networking and automotive applications. Examples include 3G/4G baseband and WiMax baseband products femtocells; gateway and wireless routers; and automotive control and telematics.

As the number of IP cores in embedded SoC designs continues to grow, current bus structures are becoming complex and time consuming to design. In addition, memory access problems can arise because there are now multiple processors competing for memory resources. SNAP addresses both of these problems by first turning the complex interconnection of multiple cores into a customized IP block, thus reducing the chip design effort. And second, SNAP improves the overall data flow in the systems, thereby improving bus performance and eliminating memory bottlenecks.

“SNAP is a simple, but elegant solution to the troubling problem of multicore connectivity for embedded SoCs,” said Jack Browne, senior vice president of sales and marketing. “It’s all about reducing costs and getting to market faster, and that’s what Sonics has traditionally provided its customers. SNAP takes this a step further by automating the design and evaluation process with our simple to use design capture tool that communicates directly with Sonics servers.”

By providing a complete platform solution, SNAP lowers development costs and provides faster time-to-market by reducing the engineering resources needed for complex multi-layer designs. All arbitration, clocks, data width and protocol conversions are done automatically. Protocol support for AHB and APB are provided and upgrades for AXI and OCP are also available. This platform methodology provides for easy reuse and preserves legacy IP. The investment made in earlier generation cores is not lost as system upgrades are needed. For more information about SNAP please visit, www.sonicsinc.com/SNAP.htm

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About Sonics

Sonics, Inc. is a pioneer of network-on chip (NoC) technology and today offers SoC designers the largest portfolio of intelligent, on-chip communications solutions. Sonics’ products optimize memory access, seamlessly manage on-chip network traffic, accelerate performance and reduce power consumption in SoCs with advanced voice, data and video features—including those found in home entertainment, networking, wireless and mobile devices. With a broad array of silicon-proven IP, Sonics helps designers eliminate memory bottlenecks associated with complex, high-speed SoC design, streamline and unify data flows and solve persistent network challenges in embedded systems with multiple cores. As the leading supplier of on-chip communications networks for the embedded market, Sonics has enabled its customers, including semiconductor leaders Broadcom Corporation, Samsung, Texas Instruments and Toshiba, to ship more than 500 million units worldwide. Founded in 1996, Sonics is headquartered in Milpitas, Calif. with offices worldwide. Visit www.sonicsinc.com.