Designing SOCs with Configured Cores

13.2. The ITRS Proposal for SOC Design

In addressing the design needs of the 21st century, the consensus opinion represented in the ITRS 2005 report clearly identifies several possible approaches to resolving the rise in design complexity. Two of the key elements the ITRS report identifies are reuse productivity and allowing designers to work at a higher level of abstraction. The most reusable logic-block element the electronics industry has produced to date, by far, is the programmable microprocessor and its brethren (DSPs, microcontrollers, network processors, graphics processors, etc.). By its very nature, the microprocessor can serve in a very wide number of roles through its programmability. The broad use of microprocessors to implement ...