Carbon ARM IP library has all Cortex processors

PARIS, FRANCE: Carbon Design Systems has announced that its ARM IP library now contains all Cortex processors, AMBA AXI Fabric and peripherals.

The company said in a press release that its IP portfolio currently has the entire ARM11 and Cortex families of processors, apart from the ARM7 and ARM9 family of processors.

Carbon Design Systems says it also offers support for the ARM AMBA NIC301 Network Interconnect, and the AHB, APB, AMBA AXI peripherals.

The firm explained in the press release that the carbonized models of ARM IP are compiled directly from the original register transfer level (RTL) code, in order to guarantee accuracy of implementation. These models, Carbon Design Systems, added, can be integrated into any virtual prototype system that is used for pre-silicon hardware/software validation and architectural analysis – including OSCI SystemC and Carbon SoC Designer platforms.

The carbonized models, according to Carbon Design Systems, contain debugger integrations for both hardware engineers and software developers, complete with support for single-stepping, break pointing, and semi-hosting.

It may be noted that, in April 2009, Carbon Design Systems and CoWare Incorporated, an EDA firm, had collaborated to develop implementation-accurate models of ARM IP, aimed at the SystemC-based designs of CoWare. These models as well as model kits that were thus developed included solutions for, among others, the AMBA3 Interconnect (PL301) matrix and the ARM Cortex-A9 processor.