Date: 02/12/2009

Actel extend Core8051s processor support to its FPGAs

Actel has extended the Core8051s processor support to its high-reliability Axcelerator, radiation-tolerant RTAX and low-power IGLOO FPGAs, to enable high reliability, space-flight or portable embedded designs.
Actel says Core8051s is an ASM51-compatible microcontroller core that can run programs written for the 8051. It contains the main 8051 core logic but no peripheral logic. Core8051s has an APB bus interface that can be used like the SFR bus to easily expand the functionality of the core by connecting it to existing APB IP peripherals. This allows users to configure the core with the peripheral functions (timers, UARTs, I/O ports, etc.) that they need for their application.
The key features of Core8051s are,

1 clock per instruction
ASM51 (8051, 8031, 80C51) compatible
Can be used with existing 8051 tools and code
APB bus peripheral interface
Optional MUL, DIV, DA instructions, can be removed if not used to further reduce core size
Optional OCI debug block

Actel states, for low-power systems, the 8051s offers a low-cost, low-power complement to the ARM Cortex-M1 32-bit microprocessor. The 8051s adds a small footprint complement to the LEON3-FT 32-bit processor, which currently is acquiring space-flight heritage in Actel RTAX2000S FPGAs. Core8051s is already seeing deployment in designs targeting RTAX-S space-flight FPGAs.

Availability:
Core8051s is available free of charge with Actel's Libero Integrated Design Environment (IDE), using Actel's SmartDesign IP design canvas tool.

For more details visit www.actel.com