4.3. Pre-Configured Processor Cores

Alternatively, there could be a family of pre-configured cores based on the Xtensa ISA. Each of these pre-configured cores could be tailored for task sets commonly encountered in SOC design. In fact, there is such a family of pre-configured cores: Tensilica’s Diamond Standard series of processor cores. The Diamond Standard cores have each been configured and extended for specific applications including control processing, Linux operation, general-purpose digital-signal processing, and audio processing.

The Diamond Standard processor cores are easy, drop-in processors tailored to common SOC tasks. They also demonstrate the types of extensions made possible by the Xtensa configurable ISA, the XPG, and the TIE language. Chapters 7–12 discuss the pre-configured Diamond cores in more detail.