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cores: Definition and Recommended Links

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In electronic design a semiconductor intellectual property core, IP block, IP core, or logic core is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or chip layout design and is also the intellectual property of one party. IP cores may be licensed to another party or can also be owned and used by a single party alone. The term is derived from the licensing of the patent and source code copyright intellectual property rights that subsist in the design. IP cores can be used as building blocks within ASIC chip designs or FPGA logic designs.

In digital-logic applications, IP cores are typically offered as generic gate netlists. The netlist is a boolean-algebra representation (gates, standard cells) of the IP's logical-function, analogous to an assembly-code listing for a high-level program application. The netlist protects the vendor against reverse-engineering, while maintaining portability to multiple foundry targets. Some vendors also offer synthesizable versions of their IP cores. Synthesizable cores are delivered in a hardware description language such as Verilog or VHDL, permitting customer modification (at the functional level). Both netlist and synthesizable cores are called 'soft cores', as both follow the SPR design-flow (synthesis, placement and route.)

Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_intellectual_property_core)

other great electronics sites:ee toolbox site

• • cores
    • In electronic design a semiconductor intellectual property core, IP block, IP core, or logic core is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or chip layout design and is also the intellectual property of one party. IP cores may be licensed to another party or can also be owned and used by a single party alone. The term is derived from the licensing of the patent and source code copyright intellectual property rights that subsist in the design. IP cores can be used as building blocks within ASIC chip designs or FPGA logic designs.

      In digital-logic applications, IP cores are typically offered as generic gate netlists. The netlist is a boolean-algebra representation (gates, standard cells) of the IP's logical-function, analogous to an assembly-code listing for a high-level program application. The netlist protects the vendor against reverse-engineering, while maintaining portability to multiple foundry targets. Some vendors also offer synthesizable versions of their IP cores. Synthesizable cores are delivered in a hardware description language such as Verilog or VHDL, permitting customer modification (at the functional level). Both netlist and synthesizable cores are called 'soft cores', as both follow the SPR design-flow (synthesis, placement and route.)

      Source: Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_intellectual_property_core)

      (Note: The Electronic Engineers Toolbox provides an alternative set of featured links for this word at http://www.cera2.com/cores.htm)

      Featured Links:

      Processor Overviews

      BDTI has compiled key information on 60 architectures from 22 vendors. BDTI's Processor Overviews are intended to be used as a reference by DSP engineers and designers who need to quickly compare the basic architectural features of currently available DSPs and general-purpose processors.
      http://www.bdti.com/procsum/index.htm

      Pocket Guide to Processors for DSP

      BDTI's 'Pocket Guide to Processors for DSP' is a compact, one-page summary of the key features of 42 different families of DSP processors and cores from 11 vendors. The Pocket Guide includes information on each family's arithmetic type, data width, instruction width, speed, relative DSP performance (based a BDTI composite DSP benchmark score, the BDTImark2000 or BDTIsimMark2000), address space, voltage, and unique features.
      http://www.bdti.com/pocket/pocket.htm

      Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP)

      OCP-IP is a ground-breaking industry association dedicated to making a common standard for intellectual property core interfaces, or sockets, that facilitate 'plug and play' SOC design. To make complex SOC design a reality for a broader audience, the industry needs a complete socket standard that everyone can use, no matter what their on-chip architecture is, or whose processor cores they're using.
      http://www.ocpip.org/

      Free Model Foundry

      The Free Model Foundry (FMF) is dedicated to the furtherance of standard modeling practices within the electrical engineering community. In particular we support the use of VHDL, Verilog, and IBIS modeling languages. Our current focus is on providing functional simulation models (with timing) of off-the-shelf digital components in VHDL and Verilog.
      http://www.freemodelfoundry.com/

      Freescale unleashes industry’s highest performing DSP core for medical, aerospace and …

      Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a family of programmable digital signal processors (DSPs) that delivers the optimal blend of low cost and high performance for a broad range of applications in the medical, aerospace/defense and test/measurement markets. Based on the industry-leading performance of Freescale’s SC3850 StarCore® DSP core, the MSC825x family of scalable DSPs offers more performance and functionality at half the cost of...
      http://media.freescale.com

      IPextreme: Practical IP / Intellectual Property for Embedded Systems (10 March 2009)

      Rick Tomihiro of IPextreme talks with eg3.com about practical intellectual property for embedded systems, specifically the company's 8051 IP acquired from Mentor Graphics as well as the company's novel business model of taking tried-and-true IP from big semiconductor companies and working with these partners to repackage their IP with additional services and skillsets to make it both easy-to-use and reliable. A big advantage is that the IP...
      http://www.eg3.com/etc-awards/20090210-ipextreme.htm

      EDN's 2009 DSP Directory

      Welcome to the 2009 EDN DSP Directory. As it does every year, this directory groups an ever-expanding list of digital-signal-processing resources in to a single repository. Use the directory to sift through the device and core offerings of more than 45 vendors by company name or by your target application; download comprehensive specification details and device diagrams; and quickly zero in on the products you need for your designs.
      http://www.edn.com

      OpenCores

      OpenCores is a loose collection of people who are interested in developing hardware, with a similar ethos to the free software movement. Currently the emphasis is on digital modules called 'cores', since FPGAs have reduced the incremental cost of a core to approximately zero.
      http://www.opencores.org/

      Semiconductor intellectual property core @ Wikipedia

      In electronic design a semiconductor intellectual property core, IP block, or IP core is a reusable unit of logic, cell, or chip layout design and is also the intellectual property of one party. IP cores may be licensed to another party or can also be owned and used by a single party alone. The term is derived from the licensing of the patent and source code copyright intellectual property rights that subsist in the design. An uncommon...
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_intellectual_property_core

      EDN 2008 DSP Directory

      As it does every year, this directory groups an ever-expanding list of digital-signal-processing resources in to a single repository. Use the directory to sift through the device and core offerings of more than 45 vendors by company name or by your target application; download comprehensive specification details and device diagrams; and quickly zero in on the products you need for your designs.
      http://www.edn.com/article/CA6541396.html

      Explanation: these links are provided as part of our EE glossary project, which seeks to identify the most prominent keywords in embedded systems, embedded software, realtime and rtos, dsp (digital signal processing), system-on-a-chip, microprocessors and microcontrollers, and other constituent elements for embedded systems. While we seek to keep most of the links up-to-date, the user is refered to other primary electronic-based search sites such as: cera2.com, embedded.com, or EDN Magazine. If you have any suggestions of links or definitions, please email!

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I have seen slower people than I am - and more deliberate...and even quieter, and more listless, and lazier people than I am. But they were dead.
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