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Diamond Standard 570T - Rev B

Contents

Features

  • Ultra-high-performance RISC CPU core
  • Two- or three-issue, static-superscalar Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW)
  • Modeless switching between 16-, 24- and 64-bit instructions
  • Compiler automatically creates VLIW instructions
  • Dhrystone 2.1: 1.59 DMIPS/MHz
  • Dual 32x32 SIMD MULs and 32-bit integer divider
  • 16-bit DSP instructions
  • 16 Kbyte, 2-way set associative I & D caches, programmable write-through or write-back
  • Single-cycle I & D SRAM interface
  • High-speed peripheral port (XLMI)
  • Memory protection unit
  • 64-bit PIF interface
  • On-chip debugging hardware
  • Embedded trace support
  • 32-bit GPIO and FIFO interfaces
  • AHB-lite and AXI bridges

Benefits

  • Highest performance CPU per EEMBC benchmarks
  • Compiler maps C/C++ automatically to boost performance; simple programming model
  • High arithmetic and DSP performance, eliminating need for separate DSP
  • Fast and flexible interrupt handling
  • Bypass system bus and communicate directly via GPIO and FIFO interfaces
  • Drop into existing AMBA-based SOCs

Static-Superscalar Controller Core

The Diamond Standard 570T is among the highest performance, highest throughput licensable CPUs available today. It combines an efficient 5-stage pipeline with a 3-issue VLIW architecture, which enables it to obtain leading performance levels on both control code and DSP code, when benchmarked using EEMBC benchmarks.

Due to the Diamond 570T’s flexible base architecture, 16-, 24-, and compound 64-bit VLIW instruction bundles can be freely intermixed in the instruction stream with no processor mode switching, thus maintaining performance while optimizing code size. The compiler automatically creates 64-bit VLIW instruction bundles if instructions can be issued simultaneously; otherwise, a single 16/24-bit instruction is issued. This capability increases code density to industry leading levels, reducing the amount of on-chip cache or memory required for storage of instructions.

The Diamond 570T includes many standard DSP instructions to increase performance of numerically intensive applications, plus a 32x32 multiplier and 32-bit integer divider. Example DSP instructions include: zero-overhead looping, clamps (saturating arithmetic), max/min value, normalize, and sign extend. Additionally, a MAC unit enables high performance on inner loops requiring fast multiplication.

The Diamond 570T also includes 32-bit input/output GPIO ports and 32-bit input/output FIFO interfaces, which can be used to connect to standard FIFOs for fast communication with other RTL blocks, devices, and processors without ever using the system bus for maximum throughput.

Get the 2-page Diamond Standard 570T product brief.

Frequency, Area and Power Specs


 
130G
90G
  Speed Optimized Area
Optimized
Speed Optimized Area
Optimized
Area (mm2) post-synthesis
1.07 0.92 0.554 0.46
Area (mm2) post-layout
1.44 1.08 0.698 0.52
Freq (MHz) post-layout
250 125 400 200
Power (mW/MHz) post-layout
0.35 0.29 0.15 0.124

130G and 90G are with TSMC Sage-X libraries.
Area and frequency at worst operating condition (0.9 * Vdd, 132 C)
Power at typical operating condition (1.0 * Vdd, 25 C)
All area, power, and frequency numbers are representative only, and subject to variation based on each user's chosen process technology, cell library, and design tools. See white paper: Processor Core Power Specs: A Cautionary Tale

Block Diagram of the Diamond Standard Series 570T

Check out our Diamond FREE software evaluation.

Diamond 570T Instruction Formats

The Diamond 570T uses 16-, 24- and 64-bit instructions. By wisely only using large instructions when needed, the Diamond 570T provides code-efficient VLIW-like performance. Four instruction formats are supported, as shown below.

The compiler automatically modelessly intermixes these different instruction formats for maximum efficiency.

Diamond 570T Uses Smaller Die Area and 1/3 the Power of ARM 1136/1156
  ARM 1156T2-S Diamond 570T ARM 1136J-S
AREA & PERFORMANCE 1/3 the die area, much more efficient/MHz
Max Frequency (90G) Sage-HS library, optimized for speed
620 MHz 892 (EEMBC equivalent freq) (Actual=388 MHz) 620 MHz
Instruction Issue (per cycle)
1 3 1
Dhyrstone MIPS/MHz
1.20 (est.) 1.59 1.20
Area (90G, pre-layout) Sage-HS library, optimized for speed
1.75 mm2 0.62 mm2 1.8 mm2
POWER Lower power than ARM11
mW per MHz (90G)*
(Sage-HS library, optimized for speed)
0.42 0.13 0.37
mW for the Same Performance
250 mW @ 620 MHz 50 mW @ 388 MHz 229 mW @ 620 Mhz
FEATURES More Features
Instruction width
16/32 bit 16/24/64 bit 3-issue 16/32 bit
High throughput Data Queues
No Yes (input and output) No
Direct Ports/Wires
No 32 in / 32 Out No
* Power depends on operating conditions, standard cell libraries, performance targets, and processor load. See white paper: Processor Core Power Specs: A Cautionary Tale.
**EEMBC equivalent freqency - see chart below. This equates frequency based on EEMBC performance multiplier.
FEATURED INFORMATION
See "Diamond Standard Software Tool Chain" on Demos on Demand
Portable Design 2006 Editor's Choice Award
PRODUCT RESOURCES
"Tensilica's Preconfigured Cores" by Microprocessor Report
Diamond Standard Series Product Brief
Diamond Tools Product Brief
HiFi 2 Audio Engine Product Brief
Diamond VDO Product Brief
Tensilica's Diamond Standard Processor Cores - CoolBeans Write-up
Diamond Free SW Eval
WHITE PAPERS
Diamond Architecture White Paper
PRESENTATIONS
Low Cost and Low Risk 32-bit Controllers for Designing AMBA-based SOCs
QUOTABLE

“Offering the option of preconfigured cores simply makes sense...The Xtensa architecture is so flexible, and the configuration tools so versatile, that Tensilica could generate hundreds, or even thousands, of preconfigured cores to meet almost every conceivable need."

Tom Halfhill,
Microprocessor Report