Changing processors

The author reports on the theory and practice behind an innovative 32 bit RISC processor core, whose architecture can be customised to provide the optimum design solution for processor-based application-specific integrated circuits. In its basic configuration, the ARC processor, the Tangent-A4, is a four-stage pipeline device, with instructions, data and address formats all 32 bit. It also boasts separate instruction and data buses (Harvard architecture), data and instruction caches, and a unique host interface (parallel, JTAG or user defined), giving external devices access to the internal registers and memory