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Tensilica's Xtensa First Processor Core Certified by EEMBC
NUREMBERG, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2001--Tensilica®
Inc., the Santa Clara, Calif. (U.S.) provider of configurable
processor technology, announced today at Embedded Systems 2001 that
the company's Xtensa(TM) III processor has become the first core
technology to achieve certification by EEMBC, the embedded
microprocessor benchmark consortium.
Chris Rowen, Tensilica's president and CEO, said, ``Not only are we
pleased to be able to provide meaningful and objective third party
data about our Xtensa processor technology, but also we're thrilled to
have the Xtensa architecture be the first processor core to be EEMBC
certified. These data confirm what our existing licensees already
know: Tensilica technology can deliver orders of magnitude performance
improvements when compared to fixed processor implementations.''
The Process
Tensilica engaged in a two-step certification process for its IP
cores. The first involved benchmarking the basic Xtensa configuration
-- the ``out-of-the-box'' score.
The second step -- designed to illustrate the significant
improvements obtainable by the addition to the base processor of
designer-configured custom instructions -- involved tuning the default
configuration through an iterative process using the company's
proprietary Tensilica Instruction Extension (``TIE'') compiler.
Tensilica created three application-specific configurations -- one
each for EEMBC's consumer, networking and telecommunications
benchmarks -- using the same methods customers routinely use to tune
Xtensa processors for their designs. Each configuration ran at 200
MHz, and targeted 0.18-micron technology.
In the telecom benchmark series, the final core was configured
with an added Vectra(TM) DSP Engine to illustrate the performance
gains possible through preconfigured add-ons. EEMBC describes the
process of optimizing results for its benchmarks ``the achievement of
full fury results.''
In order to make the benchmarking even more meaningful to
potential Xtensa processor designers, Tensilica engaged a graduate
student to perform the initial and fine tuning of all the device
configurations to be certified, mimicking the learning curve typical
for a new Tensilica user. The student received a three-day course of
instruction before starting, the same basic training offered to all
Tensilica customers. Prior to this assignment the student had no
direct experience in microprocessor design.
Total Time
The total elapsed time spent optimizing three separate instances
of the processor for all 11 benchmarks, including C-code optimization,
was only 10 weeks.
Results
The differences between the ``out-of-the-box'' core and ``full fury''
results were significant. They ranged from a 4X speed improvement
after TIE configuration for the ``Packetflow'' algorithm in the
Networking suite to an amazing speed improvement of 830X for the
``Convolutional Encoder'' algorithm of the Telecommunications suite.
Networking Benchmark Suite Highlights 2.2X performance speedup (Netmark(TM)), 3% reduction in code
size
Telecommunications Benchmark Suite Highlights 37X performance speedup (Telemark(TM))
Consumer Benchmark Suite Highlights 17X performance increase (Consumermark(TM)) with 18% reduction
in code size (average improvement across the individual tests
in the benchmark suite)
After the designs were configured, they were reconstructed at
EEMBC's Austin Laboratories under the direction of Alan R. Weiss,
Chairman and CTO, EEMBC Certification Laboratories, LLC (ECL).
According to Weiss, ``We were a bit stunned at the difference in
results between a standard core produced using simple calls on
Tensilica's internet GUI and the optimized version of the same basic
design created through added custom instructions or use of one of
Xtensa's preconfigured add-ons like the Vectra(TM) DSP Engine. The
major improvements say a lot about this technology's tools.''
``The certified benchmark scores that Tensilica is publishing today
are exemplary of the objectives for which EEMBC was founded,'' said
Markus Levy, EEMBC president. ``Tensilica is not only the first of the
processor core vendors to undergo the certification process, this
event also highlights EEMBC's commitment to bringing relevance to
embedded processor benchmarking. These benchmarks will help customers
make objective choices between processor types.''
Benchmark Details
Complete benchmark data on Tensilica's Xtensa Core -- as well as
data on other EEMBC certified processors may be obtained by visiting
the EEMBC website, www.eembc.org. The web site presentation
facilitates the comparison of various microprocessors with Tensilica's
results. The Tensilica benchmarks are also available on the company's
website, www.tensilica.com.
About EEMBC
Providing the embedded industry fair and certified benchmarks and
real-world applications, EEMBC is composed of more than 40 of the
world's leading and most influential semiconductor and intellectual
property companies. EEMBC members are committed to helping customers
get product easier and faster through fair benchmarking and
establishment of industry standards. Benchmarking fairness is provided
through the EEMBC Certification Labs with offices in Texas and
California. Certified benchmarking results are posted on the EEMBC
website at http://www.eembc.org/benchmark.
About Tensilica
Tensilica was founded in July 1997 to address the fast-growing
market for configurable microprocessor cores and software development
tools for high volume, embedded systems. Using the company's
proprietary Xtensa Processor Generator, system-on-chip (SOC) designers
can develop a processor subsystem hardware design and a complete
software development tool environment tailored to their specific
requirements in hours.
Tensilica's solutions provide a proven, easy-to-use methodology
that enables designers to achieve optimum application performance in
minimum design time. The company has over 120 engineers engaged in
research, development, and customer support from its offices in Santa
Clara, Calif.; Burlington, Mass.; Princeton, N.J.; Houston,
Texas; Oxford, U.K.; Yokohama, Japan; and Stockholm, Sweden.
Tensilica is headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif. (95054) at
3255-6 Scott Boulevard, and can be reached at 408/986-8000 or via
www.tensilica.com on the World Wide Web.
Note to Editors: ``Tensilica'' is a registered trademark and
``Xtensa'' and ``Vectra'' are trademarks belonging to Tensilica Inc. All
other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
- Tensilica's announced licensees are, in alphabetical order,
Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Cisco Systems, Fujitsu
Limited, Galileo Technology, National Semiconductor, NEC
Corporation, NTT, ONEX Communications, TranSwitch Corporation
and ZiLOG.
- Visit Tensilica at ESC-Nuremberg, Booth Number L-15, Hall 12,
February 14-16, 2001, Messe Nurnberg, Germany.
- Visit Tensilica at DATE 2001, Munich, Booth Number B-1, March
13-15, 2001, International Congress Centre, Munchen, Germany.
- Visit Tensilica at Embedded Systems Conference -- Spring,
Booth Number 2502, April 9-13, 2001, Moscone Convention
Center, San Francisco.
- The EDN Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC)
was formed in April 1997 to develop meaningful performance
benchmarks for processors in embedded applications. Unlike the
embedded processor benchmarks of yesterday, EEMBC's benchmarks
comprise a suite designed to reflect real-world applications.
Furthermore, EEMBC is backed by the majority of the processor
industry and has therefore established itself as the
industry-standard, embedded processor benchmarks. They
represent a hybrid of real-world and synthetic benchmarks.
These benchmarks target the automotive/industrial, consumer,
networking, office automation, and telecommunications markets.
More specifically, these benchmarks target specific
applications that include engine control, digital cameras,
printers, cellular phones, modems, and more. And with the
assistance of a number of industry experts, the consortium
dissected these applications and derived 37 individual
algorithms that would constitute EEMBC's Version 1.0 suite of
benchmarks.
- EEMBC members include Altera, AMD, ARC, ARM, Analog Devices
Inc., ATI Technologies, BOPS, Cadence, Conexant Systems, DSP
Group, Equator Technologies, FlexSilicon, Fujitsu
Microelectronics, Green Hills Software, Hitachi America Ltd.,
Improv Systems, IBM Corporation, Imsys, Infineon Technologies,
Integrated Device Technology, Intel, Lucent, Metaware,
Metrowerks, Microchip Technology, MIPS Technologies Inc.,
Mitsubishi, Motorola, National Semiconductor, NEC, Panasonic,
Philips, QED, SandCraft, STMicroelectronics, Siroyan Ltd., Sun
Microsystems, 3DSP, Tensilica, Texas Instruments, Toshiba,
Transmeta, Trimedia, and Wind River (DIAB).
Contact:
Tensilica, Inc.
Bernie Rosenthal, 408/327-7302
bernier@tensilica.com
Kim Alfaro, 408/566-1705
kim@tensilica.com
or
Wall Street Communications (EEMBC)
Bob Decker, 415/409-0233
bob.decker@wallstcom.com
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