SiFive unveils ‘world’s smallest’ commercial 64-bit embedded core
The S2 Core IP Series is a 64-bit addition to the company’s 2 Series Core IP and brings advanced features to its smallest microcontrollers. The S2, says the company, enables SoCs to have an always-on low power CPU that can be combined with high-performance CPUs that switch on only when applications demand performance, such as in voice-activated smart devices.
The 2 Series can be configured to be as small as 13,500 gates (in RV32E form). The S2 is just half the size of a similarly configured S5 core. Security is enhanced by separation between secure and non-secure domains. This degree of flexibility, says the company, is what is needed to meet the constraints in terms of power, area and real-time demands as well as the requirements in terms of performance of modern edge workloads and applications.
“To achieve SiFive’s mission to democratize silicon and compute, we must rapidly enable embedded intelligence where data touches the real world,” says Yunsup Lee, CTO and co-founder, SiFive. “SiFive recognized a deep need for a full 64-bit embedded solution. We leveraged our unique methodology to rapidly innovate and architect 64-bit, fully heterogenous and coherent, real-time core capability. Our S2 Core IP Series is silicon proven and brings efficiency, performance, and security to enable greater innovation at the edge.”
The S2 Series will be available as a customizable Core IP Series as well as in the form of standard cores via the company’s Core Designer.