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PowerPC™ Processor
PPC405x3 Processor Introduction:
FPGAs are renowned for their ability to process parallel logic, but they typically have a hard time emulating a high performance processor. To get the best of both worlds the Virtex‐4™ features an embedded Power PC Processor. Since the processor shares the same die as the FPGA it seamlessly interfaces with the FPGA fabric.
A new feature of the Vitex‐4 FPGA is the addition of an auxiliary processor interface. The APU is the highest speed interface between the Power‐PC™ processor and the FPGA fabric. Up to four custom instructions may be implemented in the FPGA, which are accessible from the Power‐PC™.
Board support packages are currently available for μC/OS, Linux and Integrity. Board support source code is available open source under the GPL.
E‐14 Hardware Reference Manual | www.picocomputing.com | Pico Computing, Inc. |
