New version of Arteris NoC IP library and design tools adds new low power NoC IP elements and software application debug; Supports OCP 2.1 protocol Paris, France — February 19, 2007 — Arteris SA, a leading provider of Network-on-Chip (NoC) solutions addressing challenges associated with on-chip communications, today announced immediate availability of its Arteris NoC Solution, Version 1.6. The latest release of the IP library and accompanying tool set incorporates a range of customer-requested features to improve the efficiency and ease-of-use of implementing NoCs for multi-media, telecom infrastructure and wireless SoC designed in leading-edge manufacturing processes down to 45-nanometer (nm). Key to the release is a low-power version of the Arteris NoC IP library, aimed specifically at demanding wireless and consumer applications.
Also, as part of this release, Arteris is announcing support for the Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP) OCP 2.1 communication protocol.
Specific enhancements in the Arteris NoC 1.6 solution include:
- Low power version of the Arteris NoC IP library elements for wireless mobile terminal applications and other low power applications. Arteris has introduced hierarchical clock gating at the register or module level, making it the lowest power interconnect available.
- New library units including multi-chip link for multi-die SoCs, depleted switches, power isolator and support for firewall IPs. These NoC elements IPs broaden the range of addressable architectures to multi-die SoCs and SoCs with internal hardware security schemes.
- Support for multiple Quality of Service strategies, including sophisticated memory scheduler, fixed priority, end-to-end dynamic priority as well as best effort packet delivery.
- New Debug on Silicon features. These include a combination of IPs and software tools that allows the use of a NoC as a logic analyzer inside the SoC to debug software issues at the SoC emulation and silicon prototype levels.
None of the new features degrade the wire efficiency benefits of the Arteris NoC, which is one of the methodology's most significant advantages.
"The Arteris NoC Solution 1.6 addresses critical requirements such as low power, support for multiple QoS strategies and the ability to debug NoCs," said Charlie Janac, President and CEO of Arteris. "In addition, with this release, we are expanding the range of SoC architectures that can benefit from our on-chip communication approach."
"We are excited about the low power features of the Arteris NoC Solution 1.6 release. On our M4 project for development of next generation mobile application processors, we have been able to very significantly reduce power utilization of our design compared to earlier approaches," said Rudy Leuwerains, Vice President of Application Architectures at IMEC.
The NoCexplorer 1.6 tool dramatically increase the efficiency of NoC use by providing system architects with an easy way to analyze and optimize the NoC interconnect based on data traffic at the earliest stages of a SoC project. With a very light and synthetic traffic modeling capability, architects can analyze system bandwidth, latency and quality of service quickly and accurately. A SystemC output of an NoC instance model is now available to be used in traditional ESL tools including CoWare and ARM.
NoCcompiler, enhanced with a graphical capture and static connectivity checks, allows easier NoC topology capture and configuration. NoCcompiler automatically generates the RTL NoC instance specific to each SoC or its derivative. Release 1.6 improvements also include more checks in the automatically generated test suite.
SoC-level debug verification consumes an increasing portion of SoC development time. The new on-silicon trace and debug features in NoCprofiler ensure verification of SoC communication objectives have been met once the NoC is in use in the SoC. Inserting a trace mechanism in the Arteris NoC instance allows easier debugging of the software running on SoC prototype or final chip.
Arteris broke new ground when it introduced the first commercially available NoC solution in 2005. The Arteris NoC is a three-layer packet switching network that operates inside complex SoCs. The solution uses an innovative IP library of transport units, network interface units and other soft IP blocks that allow Arteris customers to configure their own flexible SoC communication subsystems. The NoC technology improves upon traditional bus-based approaches that must be redesigned for each different type of SoC configuration, and typically use more wires, consume more power with lower performance, while often increasing die size.
The Arteris NoC Solution integrates easily with existing EDA design flows through RTL outputs in Verilog, VHDL and System C formats, together with synthesis scripts. Important verification tools are supported as well.
The Arteris NoC Solution 1.6 is available on either per project license with a tapeout fee or royalty pricing models.
Arteris, SA, provides IPs and associated design tools to improve performance of SoC architectures for Multimedia, Telecom and Mobile applications compared to incumbent technologies. Arteris Network-on-Chip solutions transport and manage the on-chip communications within complex System-on-Chip (SoC) integrated circuits, increasing performance, reducing number of global wires, with lower power utilization while enabling the most complex, IP-laden designs. It allows chip developers to implement efficient and high-performance NoC designs, overcoming limitations of traditional layered or pipelined bus-based architectures. Arteris technology is scaleable in terms of the number of IP blocks designers can network, as well as with deep submicron silicon manufacturing processes. The NoC solutions are compatible with existing design flows and with IP interface standards.
The international company operates globally with headquarters in Paris, France and offices in Boston and San Jose, California. Arteris has raised more than $12 million in equity investment from an international set of venture capitalists, including Crescendo Ventures, Techno Venture Management and Ventech. More information can be found at http://www.arteris.com.
