PipelineZero 32-bit Embedded Processor
Silicon IP Cores
32-bit BA2X Processors
Royalty-free, code-dense, low-power MPUs
These BA2x Family processor cores are silicon-proven, royalty-free, easy to program, and technically competitive with traditional 32-bit processor choices.
Their BA2™ instruction set architecture yields extremely dense code, reducing memory and cache sizes, enabling fewer operations and more sleep, and cutting system-level energy consumption.
Various preconfigured versions bundle features and peripherals to target deeply embedded systems through application processors running Android or Linux.
All include the BeyondStudio™ IDE for quick programming, and reference designs, evaluation systems, and integration services are available.
The BA2 ISA was developed to better exploit state-of-the-art compilers and deliver extreme code-density. Key features of the ISA are:
- Variable length instruction encoding
- 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit and 48-bit instructions
- Compiler chooses smallest suitable encoding
- Denser code than fixed-length ISAs
- 32 GPRs mean for less load/store
- Load/store ~25% of code for typical programs on RISC CPUs
- Single 24-bit function epilogue instruction, for restoring GPR values from the stack
- Rich set of arithmetic (including saturated), conditional branch and conditional move instructions
- DSP & Floating-Point extensions
Extreme code density reduces system-wide energy consumption, smaller code usually translates to:
- Smaller memories (non-volatile Flash/OTP and Shadow SRAMs)
- Less cache misses, and so less access to larger, power-hungry memories
- Fewer instructions to complete a specific task and longer sleep times
All BA2x processors are supported with development tools including a GCC/Eclipse IDE, libraries, architectural simulator, and reference design/eval system boards.