Floating-Point Processor Cores

GB3 offers an array of float-point processors for embedded multi-media applications. All of the processors are designed to the IEEE-754 standard, IEEE Standard for Binary Floating-Point Arithmetic, ANSI/IEEE Std 754-1985. The cores implement the traditional single (32-bit) and double (64-bit) precision formats, as well as the new half precision format (16-bit).

The FPSDZ design implements a streamlined version of IEEE-754 standard that supports both single and double precision operands. For maximum performance with minimum size, the FPSDZ design omits two of the high overhead, low utility features of the standard: gradual underflow and denormal numbers. The core offers a high performance 3-stage pipeline, and an easy-to-use interface. The core is designed for the user that needs double and single precision operations, high throughput performance, and nothing else.

The FPSX is a collection of four single precision floating-point modules designed for high performance applications. Each module implements a pipeline with only 10-12 gate delays in each clock cycle for greater than 1 GHz performance. All modules can sustain a 1-cycle throughput. Four modules are provided: add, multiply, conversions, and compare. The multiply module implements a fused floating-point multiply-add, and also supports several 32-bit integer multiply functions. FPSZ offers a clean interface and the same IEEE-754 compliance level as the FPSDZ, and is an ideal design collection for compute intensive applications.

The FPSZ is a single precision floating-point unit designed for low-power, minimal area implementations. Since low-power applications usually necessitate low clock frequencies, the FPSZ is designed with a 1-stage pipeline, where most instructions execute in one clock cycle. This feature ensures maximum performance at low clock frequencies, and as a bonus, eliminates the extra logic needed to support a multi-stage pipeline. The FPSZ offers the same clean interface and IEEE-754 compliance level as the FPSDZ, and is an ideal design for a wide range of low-power applications.

The A7FPSZ combines the FPSZ core with an ARM7® co-processor interface, and a user-configurable register file. The result is a small but powerful floating-point co-processor to one of the world's most popular embedded processor architectures.

The newest addition to the family is the FPHZ core, a small but very powerful half precision floating-point unit. Like it's single precision cousin, the FPHZ implements a 1-stage pipeline that maximizes performance in low-power designs. The FPHZ is truly tiny - less than 1/3 the size of the single precision unit! The FPHZ is an ideal choice for a pixel processor in image processing applications.