OCP-IP Announces Release of OCP 2.1 Specification
PORTLAND, Ore.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—March 2, 2005—
Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP)
today announced that the OCP 2.1 specification will be available at
the end of Q1. The specification will now include profiles for the
most commonly coupled OCP features and an advanced tagging scheme for
enhancements in out-of-order processing.
Profiles speed the designer learning process by recommending sets
of OCP features (with the associated configuration options) that are
usually combined to solve typical design challenges. The described
profiles fall into two categories: those based on IP core role in the
larger system and profiles based on bridging to existing interfaces.
These profile schemes will cover a large subset of typical design
challenges, minimizing the learning process associated with adoption
of OCP.
Tagging provides the ability for interconnect and targets in
re-ordering transactions to non-conflicting memory addresses within a
single thread. Unlike threads, which enforce no ordering restrictions,
tagged transactions ensure that read/write hazards are respected by
the system. Tagged transactions are particularly attractive for
advanced embedded CPU architectures, like the MIPS32(R) 24K(R)
processor core family, which can exploit the parallelism offered by
out-of-order transaction processing, but which require consistent
memory ordering.
OCP-IP believes a standard is only proven through real-world
implementations and products. Many OCP-IP members, companies with
world-class SoC design expertise in their own right, have used OCP in
numerous production SoC designs. OCP 2.1 utilizes the collective
experience of these SoC designers and EDA providers and directly
addresses their enhancement requests with the new specification.
Work on OCP 2.1 was executed by members of the OCP-IP
Specification Working Group including: MIPS Technologies, Inc., Nokia,
Philips Semiconductor, Sonics Inc, Texas Instruments, and other
industry leading companies.
"The community's working groups are extremely active and have done
a tremendous job rapidly evolving the specification," said Ian
Mackintosh, president of OCP-IP. "Adoption of OCP has been dramatic
and we are pleased to see the new features of OCP 2.1 utilized in real
world implementations like the MIPS32 24K core family."
"MIPS Technologies adopted OCP as the core interface on the 24K
processor core family because of the open nature of the consortium in
defining the standard and in the technical content of the interface,"
said Tom Petersen, director of product marketing at MIPS Technologies.
"In consumer electronics applications such as digital TV or DVD
recorders, tagging and other features of the 2.1 version of OCP are
key to realizing all the benefits of the 24K cores."
For more information visit www.ocpip.org
About OCP-IP
The OCP International Partnership Association, Inc. (OCP-IP),
formed in 2001, promotes and supports the Open Core Protocol (OCP) as
the complete socket standard ensuring rapid creation and integration
of interoperable virtual components. OCP-IP's Governing Steering
Committee participants are: Nokia (NYSE: NOK), Texas Instruments
(NYSE: TXN), STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), Toshiba Semiconductor
Group (including Toshiba America TAEC), and Sonics. OCP-IP is a
non-profit corporation delivering the first fully supported, openly
licensed, core-centric protocol comprehensively fulfilling
system-level integration requirements. The OCP facilitates IP core
reusability and reduces design time, risk, and manufacturing costs for
SoC designs. VSIA endorses the OCP socket, and OCP-IP is affiliated
with the VSI Alliance. For additional background and membership
information, visit www.OCPIP.org.
Contact:
OCP-IP
Ian Mackintosh, 650-938-2500 ext 106
ian@ocpip.org
or
VitalCom
Joe Basques, 650-366-8212 ext 202
joe@vitalcompr.com
