Designing SOCs with Configured Cores

4.2. Xtensa Processor Block Diagram

Figure 4.2 shows a block diagram of the Xtensa processor with all of its optional and configurable components. If the Xtensa processor core was a fixed-ISA machine, every instance of the processor would need to contain all of the elements appearing in Figure 4.2, which would result in a large processor core. Such a large core would be quite powerful but it would not be a precise fit for any particular set of application tasks. Instead, the Xtensa processor core is configurable, which means that the SOC design team can develop processor cores based on the Xtensa ISA that are sized to fit the performance profiles of the various processor “sockets” in the overall system design.

The Xtensa block diagram shows many ...