CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive
28 February 2005
Product News
ARM and Synopsys Announce Industry-First and Recommended Flow for ARM11 Family with Intelligent Energy Manager Technology
Synopsys, Inc. announced the jointly developed low-power reference methodology (RM) for implementing ARM® Intelligent Energy Manager (IEM) technology in silicon. The two companies have proven that IEM technology, when used with the ARM Artisan® low-power library, can reduce the ARM processor energy consumption by up to 60 percent. The ARM-Synopsys Galaxy RM for IEM (IEM RM), co-developed by ARM and its Physical IP group (formerly Artisan) and Synopsys Professional Services, is an industry first and is built on Synopsys' Galaxy Design Platform. The IEM RM is part of a multi-year collaboration between the companies for the development and delivery of ARM processors and Intellectual Property (IP).
"Our close collaboration with ARM and Synopsys will speed the design of our next-generation low power devices for mobile applications based on the ARM1176JZF-ST processor with IEM technology," said Sung Bae Park, vice president of Processor Architecture Lab at Samsung Electronics. "Early access to the advanced low-power techniques such as IEM can give us the potential of significant power reduction with increased design productivity."
The need for low power is not just limited to mobile and wireless devices, but extends to many different forms of electronic applications. The IEM RM is an extension of the standard ARM-Synopsys Galaxy RM, and includes an enhanced methodology guide and scripts as "best practices" for IEM technology-enabled cores and multi-voltage design techniques in Synopsys' Galaxy Design Platform and the Artisan MetroT low-power libraries.
ARM and Synopsys proved out the IEM technology in system-on-chips (SoCs) through multiple foundries and, in the past few months, demonstrated the results to more than 1500 designers who attended ARM-Synopsys events worldwide. For a demonstration of these advanced low power techniques, visit the Synopsys booth (D8000) at the Design, Automation and Test in Europe (DATE) exhibition, March 7-11. Register for a suite demonstration at: http://www.synopsys.com/news/events/date2005/date05.html . For more information regarding the ARM-Synopsys Galaxy RM, visit http://www.synopsys.com/arm or http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/synopsys.html .
"Our ongoing partnership with Synopsys has spanned several years and produced comprehensive reference methodologies, protocol standards and IP to address our joint customers demands for ways to speed innovation," said Mike Inglis, EVP, Marketing, ARM. "Synopsys provides a complete front-to back silicon-proven flow in low-power design, and is a standard in our development and delivery of ARM IP. With the Artisan Physical IP now a part of the total ARM product offering, we can offer our partners a comprehensive low-power IP solution for the entire SoC not just the ARM processor."
Synopsys Galaxy Design Platform offers a solution for low power design in RTL synthesis, physical implementation and sign-off. The Galaxy platform delivers dynamic and leakage power optimization, advanced power planning, and power integrity sign-off for multi-voltage designs. This gives designers predictable 130-, 90- and 65-nanometer (nm) design flows to rapidly achieve the best low-power quality of results.
The Artisan Metro low-power platform provides physical IP specifically designed to significantly reduce power while lowering costs through increased density and yield. The Metro platform incorporates new architectures, circuit designs and low-power features enabling IC designers to implement dynamic voltage scaling and other advanced chip-level power management techniques. These techniques are already being used by the IEM technology-enabled ARM processor cores such as the ARM1176JZF-S processor and the ARM1176JZ-S processor.
"Power management and the ability to dynamically manage power within a system are some of the key requirements of today's designers," said Rich Goldman, vice president of Strategic Alliances at Synopsys. "ARM is unique in being able to provide this technology as an integral part of its processor technology. Our success with ARM on these low-power reference methodologies demonstrates how the Galaxy platform continues to enable market leaders to speed design convergence and bring innovations quickly to market."
Availability
The ARM-Synopsys Galaxy Reference Methodology is available today and is delivered by ARM with all ARM synthesizable processor cores. The IEM RM for the ARM1176JZ-S processor and the ARM1176JZF-S processor will be available end Q1 2005 from ARM. The IEM RM will be applied in the future to other IEM technology-enabled ARM processors including the ARM11 MPCoreT multiprocessor. In addition to the Reference Methodologies, Synopsys provides ARM partners with complementary IP, including AMBAT 2 IP and Verification IP(VIP) and AMBA 3 AXI VIP, through its DesignWare® Library tools. Additionally, Synopsys Professional Services provides design and consulting services for hardening and integrating both non-IEM and IEM technology-enabled ARM cores. Synopsys Professional Services is a global member of the ARM Design Center Program (ADC).
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