CoWare®, Inc., the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services, and Tensilica®, Inc., the leading provider of configurable processor cores, announced they have collaborated to deliver a comprehensive ESL design environment with CoWare’s Platform Architect for Tensilica’s processors. CoWare will distribute a SystemC-based Processor Support Package (PSP) with the flexibility to match all configurations of Tensilica’s Xtensa® configurable processor family as well as Tensilica’s Diamond Standard family of processor cores.
Design engineers can now use CoWare’s Platform Architect ESL environment to do full architectural exploration, design verification, and software development when designing with Tensilica’s Diamond Standard processors and Tensilica’s highly-configurable Xtensa processors. This collaboration provides a huge productivity boost for SoC designers, as it not only speeds the design process, but also enables parallel development of the hardware and software.
Multiple customized Tensilica Xtensa configurable processors are being used increasingly by designers in place of blocks of RTL to provide the flexibility of software programmability in new designs. Tensilica’s advanced configurable processor technology enables designers to mimic RTL-like hardware inside the processor data path, which provides the performance throughput needed for complex, demanding tasks such as audio and video processing and packet processing. Now, matching Xtensa processor models can be quickly generated and used in CoWare’s ESL environment. The combination of Xtensa processor configurability and its software development tool chain, with the platform design environment and additional IP models within the CoWare tools, provides customers with a unique flow for creating the best architecture for any given application.
“CoWare’s ESL tools have been widely adopted by some of our largest customers,” said Chris Rowen, president and CEO, Tensilica. “This partnership with CoWare will enable us to assure these customers that they can now easily integrate our processors into the CoWare design environment. This will also enable us to encourage some of our customers who do not use CoWare’s ESL solution to consider using it.”
“Our mutual customers have driven our partnership with Tensilica,” said Alan Naumann, president and CEO, CoWare. “They have requested full integration of the Tensilica processors into our ESL design environment because application-specific processors have proven to be more effective for complex designs than any other standard RISC processor. The breakthrough combination of CoWare Platform Architect and Tensilica configurable processors enables the concurrent optimization of the platform and processor architecture. The partnership between our two companies addresses two major industry needs – multi-processor platform exploration and reuse, and early software development – by providing the best design and software development environment for our joint customers.”
Availability
Tensilica Xtensa® and Diamond Standard PSPs are available immediately from CoWare as a part of the CoWare Model Library. For more information on these PSPs, CoWare Platform Architect, CoWare Model Library, and CoWare’s other products, visit www.coware.com. For more information on the Tensilica Xtensa® and Diamond Standard processor families, visit www.tensilica.com.
About Tensilica
Tensilica offers the broadest line of full designer configurability with the Xtensa processor family and controller, CPU, and specialty DSP processors on the market today, in an off-the-shelf format via the Diamond Standard Series cores. Tensilica’s low-power, benchmark-proven processors have been designed into high-volume products at industry leaders in the digital consumer, networking, and telecommunications markets. All Tensilica processor cores are complete with a matching software development tool environment, portfolio of system simulation models, and hardware implementation tool support. For more information on Tensilica’s patented approach to the creation of application-specific building blocks for SOC design, visit www.tensilica.com.
About CoWare
CoWare is the leading supplier of platform-driven electronic system-level (ESL) design software and services. CoWare offers a comprehensive set of ESL tools that enable electronics companies to “differentiate by design” through the creation of system IP, including embedded processors, on-chip buses, and DSP algorithms; the architecture of optimized SoC platforms; hardware/software co-design; and virtual platforms for device software development. The company’s solutions are based on open industry standards including SystemC. CoWare’s customers are major systems, semiconductor, and IP companies in the market where consumer electronics, computing, and communications converge. CoWare’s corporate investors include ARM [(LSE:ARM); (NASDAQ:ARMHY)], Cadence Design Systems (NASDAQ:CDNS), STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM), and Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE). CoWare is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., and has offices around the world. For more information about CoWare and its products and services visit http://www.coware.com.
Notes to editors:
CoWare is a registered trademark of CoWare, Inc. Tensilica and Xtensa are registered trademarks belonging to Tensilica Inc. All other company and product names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Tensilica’s announced licensees include Afa Technologies, ALPS, AMCC (JNI Corporation), Aquantia, Astute Networks, Atheros, ATI, Avago Technologies, Avision, Bay Microsystems, Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Conexant Systems, Cypress, Crimson Microsystems, EE Solutions, ETRI, FUJIFILM Microdevices, Fujitsu Ltd., Hudson Soft, Hughes Network Systems, iBiquity Digital, Ikanos Communications, LG Electronics, Lucid Information Technology, Marvell, MediaWorks, NEC Laboratories America, NEC Corporation, NetEffect, Neterion, Nethra Imaging, Nippon Telephone and Telegraph (NTT), NuFront, NVIDIA, Olympus Optical Co. Ltd., PnpNetwork Technologies, sci-worx, Seiko Epson, Solid State Systems, Sony, STMicroelectronics, Stretch, TranSwitch Corporation, u-Nav Microelectronics, Victor Company of Japan (JVC) and WiQuest Communications.