Microprocessor design embeddable in other computer systems
A soft microprocessor (also called softcore microprocessor or a soft processor) is a microprocessor core that can be wholly implemented using logic synthesis. It can be implemented via different semiconductor devices containing programmable logic (e.g., FPGA, CPLD), including both high-end and commodity variations.[1]
Most systems, if they use a soft processor at all, only use a single soft processor. However, a few designers tile as many soft cores onto an FPGA as will fit.[2] In those multi-core systems, rarely used resources can be shared between all the cores in a cluster.
While many people put exactly one soft microprocessor on a FPGA, a sufficiently large FPGA can hold two or more soft microprocessors, resulting in a multi-core processor. The number of soft processors on a single FPGA is limited only by the size of the FPGA.[3] Some people have put dozens or hundreds of soft microprocessors on a single FPGA.[4][5][6][7][8] This is one way to implement massive parallelism in computing and can likewise be applied to in-memory computing.
A soft microprocessor and its surrounding peripherals implemented in a FPGA is less vulnerable to obsolescence than a discrete processor.[9][10][11]
Core comparison
See also
References
- ^ http://www.dailycircuitry.com/2011/10/zet-soft-core-running-windows-30.html Archived 2018-10-13 at the Wayback Machine"Zet soft core running Windows 3.0" by Andrew Felch 2011
- ^ "Embedded.com - FPGA Architectures from 'A' to 'Z' : Part 2". Archived from the original on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2012-08-18."FPGA Architectures from 'A' to 'Z'" by Clive Maxfield 2006
- ^ MicroBlaze Soft Processor: Frequently Asked Questions Archived 2011-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ István Vassányi.
"Implementing processor arrays on FPGAs". 1998.
[1]
- ^ Zhoukun WANG and Omar HAMMAMI.
"A 24 Processors System on Chip FPGA Design with Network on Chip".
[2]
- ^ John Kent.
"Micro16 Array - A Simple CPU Array"
[3]
- ^ Kit Eaton.
"1,000 Core CPU Achieved: Your Future Desktop Will Be a Supercomputer".
2011.
[4]
- ^ "Scientists Squeeze Over 1,000 Cores onto One Chip".
2011.
[5] Archived 2012-03-05 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Joe DeLaere. ""Top 7 Reasons to Replace Your Microcontroller with a MAX 10 FPGA"" (PDF).
- ^ John Swan; Tomek Krzyzak. (2008). ""Using FPGAs to avoid microprocessor obsolescence"". Archived from the original on 2016-10-13.
- ^ Staff (2010-02-03). "FPGA processor IP needs to be supported". Electronics Weekly. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
- ^ "Overview :: OpenFire Processor Core :: OpenCores".
External links
- Soft CPU Cores for FPGA
- Detailed Comparison of 12 Soft Microprocessors
- FPGA CPU News
- Freedom CPU website
- Microprocessor cores on Opencores.org (Expand the "Processor" tab)
- NikTech 32 bit RISC Microprocessor MANIK.