PISCATAWAY, N.J. – August 26, 2008 – Power.org, the organization that promotes and develops standards for Power Architecture® technology, today announced the Power Architecture Physical Connection for High Speed Serial Trace Specification, new web-based training tools, regional training programs, and its newest member, LSI Corporation. Collectively, these new developments make the Power Architecture processing platform easier to use and strengthen the community of technology leaders supporting its development.
“Today, Power silicon is available from more vendors and in more application-specific configurations than ever, underscoring the considerable advantages of Power.orgs collaborative approach to innovation,” said Power.org Marketing Committee Chairperson Fawzi Behmann. “The Power Architecture platforms performance, versatility and extensive base of software, tools and training make it the preferred processor architecture for next-generation systems in a variety of market segments.”
Specification Drives Reliability
The Power Architecture Physical Connection for High Speed Serial Trace Specification defines the high-speed serial protocol and the connection method for tracing programs through a system, improving efficiency and cuts the time required to debug Power Architecture devices.
“Until now engineers had no efficient way to trace the program execution on a Power Architecture design,” said Charlie Ayer, member of the technical staff at Wind River. “By defining the high-speed serial protocol and the connection method, weve eliminated this challenge and given designers a standardized solution with a flexible configuration that can support virtually any design.”
The Power Architecture Physical Connection for High Speed Serial Trace Specification was developed collaboratively by AMCC, Freescale Semiconductor, IBM, Lauterbach Datentechnik, Mentor Graphics, Wind River, and Xilinx. It defines a serial protocol thats scalable, occupies minimal printed circuit board space, and employs commonly used physical layers. The specification can be downloaded at www.power.org/resources/downloads/.
“This collaborative effort, driven by a critical customer need, embodies the value of Power.org for members and the design community as a whole,” said Chris Ng, Chair of Power.orgs Common Debug Interface Technical Subcommittee. “This specification will make debugging more efficient, resulting in more reliable Power Architecture devices and improved, standardized tools.”
Power Architecture Training Programs
Following its extremely well-attended Power Architecture technology conferences in Paris and Munich, Power.org will hold a series of similar, one-day events in Asia this October. Power Architecture experts will present technology updates and practical training to design teams developing next-generation systems. In addition, engineering managers, system architects and product developers will gain access to the latest Power Architecture product roadmaps and products. The one-day events will be held in Hsinchu, Taiwan; Tokyo, Japan; and Beijing, China.
The initial Power Architecture Conferences in Europe included 48 sessions and 30 live demonstrations. Nearly 250 members of the European design community working in the networking, communications, automotive, industrial, consumer, aerospace, wireless and military markets attended the events. PowerPoint slides of each presentation are available in Power.orgs web-based conference library, at www.power.org/events/powercon/paris/ and www.power.org/events/powercon/munich/
In addition to educational materials from its European conferences, Power.org is also releasing its first Power Architecture on-demand webcast: “Power.org’s Enhancements to the Power Architecture Technology Platform,” now live at www.power.org/events/webinar/. The webcast, broken down into five individual modules, highlights key technology standards Power.org members are collaboratively developing for the Power Architecture platform, including enhancements to the Power Instruction Set Architecture, standardized debug interface for single and multicore devices, and hypervisor capabilities for embedded applications and specifications.
Power.org’s technology standards have significant and lasting benefits for the Power Architecture processing platform, which provides the computing intelligence for a broad range of advanced electronics, from the world’s fastest supercomputers to the automotive control systems in more than half the new car models on today’s roads.
Power.org Community Growth
LSI Corporation is the newest member to join Power.org. LSI Corporation is a leading provider of innovative silicon, systems and software technologies that enable products which seamlessly bring people, information and digital content together. The company offers a broad portfolio of capabilities and services including custom and standard product ICs, adapters, systems and software that are trusted by the world’s best known brands to power leading solutions in the Storage and Networking markets.
About Power.org
Power Architecture technology is behind millions of innovative products, including the worlds fastest supercomputers, leading video game consoles, and electronic systems in most of todays car models. Every phone call, email and Web page touches hundreds of Power Architecture systems.
The open Power.org community, formed in 2005, is the organization driving collaborative innovation around Power Architecture technology. Power.orgs mission is to optimize interoperability, accelerate innovation and drive increased adoption of this leading processor architecture. For more details, visit www.power.org.