Freescale Offers ColdFire-V1 for FPGAs

摘要

Freescale Semiconductor has joined the growing list of companies allowing their processor cores to be commercially distributed in FPCAs. Freescale's ColdFire-V1-a synthesizable 32-bit embedded processor derived from the Motorola 68K architecture-is now sanctioned for use with Altera's Cyclone III and other programmable-logic devices. Freescale and Altera announced the news on June 9. Although Freescale isn't participating in the Synplicity ReadyIP program, the release of the ColdFire-V1 for FPGA distribution is another sign that processor-IP vendors are responding to design challenges facing developers. Until now, Freescale licensed the ColdFire-V1 for ASIC projects only. (See MPR 8/28/06-02, "Connecting the Continuum.") Better yet, Freescale is licensing the Cyclone III variant of the ColdFire-V1 for free. There are no up-front licensing fees and no royalties, no matter what the volume. Multicore projects are free, too, and the processor includes Freescale's single-wire debug module. To implement and deploy the ColdFire-V1 in other FPCAs (or in ASICs), the licensing fee is $10,000, plus chip royalties.