LSI Logic and FS2 Announce On-Chip Instrumentation [OCI(R)] And System Analyzer Tools for ZSP500 Next Generation DSP Cores

MILPITAS, Calif., Sept. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- LSI Logic Corporation (NYSE: LSI) and FS2® (First Silicon Solutions) announced today the availability of the ISA-ZSP500 In-target System Analyzer for debugging and testing designs using the ZSP(TM)500 synthesizable DSP cores.

The System Analyzer consists of FS2 On-Chip Instrumentation (OCI®) IP that is licensed as an option with the LSI Logic ZSP500 synthesizable core; a hardware probe for communications with the target resident OCI IP and Windows® based control and display software complete the system. The system analyzer provides complete debug support for the ZSP-based target hardware and is fully integrated into the PC host resident development software. The FS2 OCI IP provides a number of user configurable options for collecting trace allowing the user to optimize the system for available SoC resources. The system is unique in being able to capture program and data trace either on-chip or streaming data off-chip via a high-speed Mictor cable connection. The system also provides the first-ever hardware-based performance monitoring system for profiling DSP resources and measuring code execution times.

"The ISA-ZSP500 System Analyzer integrates functions that in the past would require an assortment of debuggers, logic analyzers, software programs, or simulation environments to perform. FS2's OCI IP enables these capabilities to be easily accessible for the synthesizable DSP core user at real-time system speeds," said Rick Leatherman, president of FS2. "The built-in performance monitoring features allow the user to identify CPU resource bottlenecks and areas where software algorithms can be optimized for better performance."

"LSI Logic is pleased to include FS2 in its expanding network of ZSP Solution Partners," said Tuan Dao, vice president of the LSI Logic DSP division. "FS2 is among our most innovative partners, providing leading-edge tools and quality support for product development. The ISA-ZSP500 is another example of how ZSP customers are not just getting a DSP, they're getting access to a complete solution that helps them accelerate their development efforts and reduce time-to-market."

Hardware-Based Performance Monitoring

The ZSP500 is a superscalar DSP that can execute up to four instructions per clock cycle. The OCI block provides three different performance measurement modes: The first is the unique Execution Profile Trace, which can capture the number of instructions executed on each clock cycle. This information is used to assist in reordering instructions to get more parallel execution from the core -- particularly important to programmers optimizing tight algorithmic loops.

The second measurement mode -- A->B timers -- provides precise timing of the duration between 4 execution address watch points. Being able to accumulate durations around a function call or a critical algorithm is extremely useful for finding and fixing performance bottlenecks.

The third -- performance monitoring -- can count any of 26 different types of system characteristics, such as total instructions, specific instruction types, cache hits, pipeline stall cycles, and load-store occurrences. Useful ratios can then be calculated such as instruction, data loads, or interrupts per second, and cache hit/miss ratios.

Pricing and Availability

The ISA-ZSP System will be available in November 2002. Pricing is $2,995 for the on-chip version and $4,995 for the system with off-chip trace support. For further information please contact Chuck Swartley at (503) 292-6730, x103.

About LSI Logic

LSI Logic Corporation is a leading designer and manufacturer of communications, consumer and storage semiconductors for applications that access, interconnect and store data, voice and video. In addition, the company supplies storage network solutions for the enterprise. LSI Logic is headquartered at 1621 Barber Lane, Milpitas, CA 95035, http://www.lsilogic.com.

About First Silicon Solutions

FS2 provides silicon IP and design services using OCI. This includes custom development tools for programming, testing and debug of FPGA, SoC, SoPC, ASSP and ASIC devices. FS2 products help silicon vendors and their customers develop and more effectively market their products, reducing development cycles, and allowing them to focus on delivering all the potential of the system on silicon. Additional information is available on the Web at http://www.fs2.com.

NOTE: FS2 and OCI are registered trademarks of First Silicon Solutions. LSI Logic and ZSP are trademarks of LSI Logic Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.