Alchemy is a family of ultra low power
embedded microprocessors
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
originally designed by Alchemy Semiconductor for communication and media devices. Alchemy processors are
SoCs integrating a CPU core, a memory controller, and a varying set of peripherals. All members of the family use the Au1 CPU core implementing the
MIPS32
MIPS (Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipelined Stages) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures (ISA)Price, Charles (September 1995). ''MIPS IV Instruction Set'' (Revision 3.2), MIPS Technologies, ...
instruction set
In computer science, an instruction set architecture (ISA), also called computer architecture, is an abstract model of a computer. A device that executes instructions described by that ISA, such as a central processing unit (CPU), is called an ' ...
by
MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc., formerly MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., was an American fabless semiconductor design company that is most widely known for developing the MIPS architecture and a series of RISC CPU chips based on it. MIPS provides proce ...
.
History
Alchemy Semiconductor was a
fabless
Fabless manufacturing is the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing their fabrication (or ''fab'') to a specialized manufacturer called a semiconductor foundry. These foundries are typically, but not exclus ...
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
company based in
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. Founded in 1999 with a seed investment by
Cadence Design Systems
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (stylized as cādence), headquartered in San Jose, California, is an American multinational corporation, multinational computational software company, founded in 1988 by the merger of SDA Systems and ECAD, Inc. The co ...
it licensed the 32-bit MIPS architecture to design, develop, and market high performance, ultra low power SoCs for the Internet Edge Device market. Peripherals were licensed from third parties. The founding team included former members of
DEC's Austin Research and Design Center working on the
StrongARM
The StrongARM is a family of computer microprocessors developed by Digital Equipment Corporation and manufactured in the late 1990s which implemented the ARM v4 instruction set architecture. It was later acquired by Intel in 1997 from DEC's o ...
project, dissolved after DEC sold its microprocessors business to
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
. In May 2000 Alchemy Semiconductor became an independent company.
Alchemy Semiconductor unveiled the first member of the family, the Au1000 processor, at the Embedded Processor Forum in San Jose, CA, on June 13, 2000,
with limited customer sampling in February 2001 and availability in production quantities in Q2 of that year, followed in 2001 and 2002 by the Au1500 and Au1100.
In February 2002
AMD
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufactur ...
acquired Alchemy in order to compete with
Intel
Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California. It is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, and is one of the developers of the x86 seri ...
's ARM-based
XScale
XScale is a microarchitecture for central processing units initially designed by Intel implementing the ARM architecture (version 5) instruction set. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some ...
processors, successor to the StrongARM line. They expanded the family with the Au1550 Security Network Processor and the Au1200 processor optimized for
PMP applications, as well as the Am1772 wireless chipset consisting of the Am1770 transceiver and Am1771 integrated baseband/MAC chips. In Summer 2006 AMD sold its Alchemy assets to Raza Microelectronics, later renamed
RMI Corporation
RMI Corporation, formerly Raza Microelectronics, Inc., was a privately held fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Cupertino, California, which specialized in designing system-on-a-chip processors for computer networking (known as network ...
. This company introduced the Au1210 and Au1250, based on and pin-compatible with the Au1200, and finally in 2009 the Au1300 series integrating a graphics processor. RMI merged with
NetLogic Microsystems
NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. was a fabless semiconductor company that developed high performance products for data center, enterprise, wireless and wireline infrastructure networks. The company was founded in 1995 by Norman Godinho and Varad Srin ...
in late 2009,
itself acquired by
Broadcom Corporation
Broadcom Corporation is an American fabless semiconductor company that makes products for the wireless and broadband communication industry. It was acquired by Avago Technologies in 2016 and operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of the merged ...
in February 2012.
Broadcom continued to sell Alchemy processors, if only under long term availability obligations, until at least 2017.
Au1 CPU core
The Au1 CPU core designed by Alchemy implements the MIPS32 ISA Release 1 and supports the MIPS EJTAG interface. A
floating-point
In computing, floating-point arithmetic (FP) is arithmetic that represents real numbers approximately, using an integer with a fixed precision, called the significand, scaled by an integer exponent of a fixed base. For example, 12.345 can b ...
unit is not present, FP instructions generate an exception and can be emulated by software. Code compression (MIPS16) and the optional Supervisor Mode were also omitted. Virtual address translation is
TLB-based and relies on a fast exception handler rather than a hardware table walker. The core supports eight interrupt sources with prioritization by software. It has two low power modes where the clocks to all core units are stopped, one mode exempting the data cache to maintain cache coherency with the rest of the system.
Au1 is a scalar, in-order microarchitecture with a
classic five stage RISC pipeline enhanced by several optimizations. It includes a 16 KiB, 4-way set associative instruction cache, a 16 KiB, 4-way, write-back, read-allocate data cache, a register file, a write buffer, and a 16/32-bit multiply-accumulate unit and 1 bit/cycle hardware divider. The cache supports prefetching by software, locking of cache lines, and a streaming mode. All pipeline stages complete in one cycle when data is available, and all pipeline hazards and dependencies are enforced by hardware interlocks. A few instructions require multiple cycles.
Alchemy SoC
The Au1000 SoC is rated for core frequencies up to 500 MHz. At 400 MHz it operates at 1.5 V and the chip consumes no more than 500 mW, with a performance of over 900
Dhrystone-2.1 MIPS/Watt according to Alchemy Semiconductor. Au1000 and Au1500 processors were fabricated on a
TSMC
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC; also called Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational corporation, multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is the world's most valuable semicon ...
180 nm LV logic 1.5V/3.3V 1P6M process, the Au1100 reduced power consumption further with a TSMC 130 nm process.
Manufacturing details of later models were not disclosed.
The CPU core, the integrated memory controllers and peripherals are linked by an internal 32-bit system bus (SBUS) running at up to one half of the CPU core frequency. Slower non-bus master capable peripherals are attached with an ancillary peripheral bus. The core's data cache snoops the SBUS for coherency with other bus masters, e.g. a DMA engine. Au12xx models integrate a 64-bit side bus (RBUS) for peripherals requiring more bandwidth from the memory controller.
Au13xx models have one RBUS per memory channel.
All Alchemy processors integrate a
DRAM
Dynamic random-access memory (dynamic RAM or DRAM) is a type of random-access semiconductor memory that stores each bit of data in a memory cell, usually consisting of a tiny capacitor and a transistor, both typically based on metal-oxid ...
controller, a static bus controller, an 8-channel DMA controller for data transfers between memory and peripherals, interrupt controllers, timers, and a power management unit. The static bus controller supports
SRAM,
ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
,
NAND/NOR Flash (Au1550), page mode Flash/ROM,
PCMCIA
The Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) was a group of computer hardware manufacturers, operating under that name from 1989 to 2009. Starting with the PCMCIA card in 1990 (the name later simplified to ''PC Card''), i ...
/
CompactFlash
CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994.
CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...
devices, and I/O peripherals such as an external LCD controller,
IDE PIO mode up to ≈80 Mbit/s (Au12xx), or ATA-6/UDMA mode 5 (Au13xx). Au1550 and later processors have a more flexible 16-channel descriptor-based DMA controller. The Au1550 integrates a
SafeNet
SafeNet, Inc. was an information security company based in Belcamp, Maryland, United States, which was acquired in August 2014 by the French security company Gemalto. Gemalto was, in turn, acquired by Thales Group in 2019. The former SafeNet's ...
Security Engine providing an entropy-based random number generator and accelerating the
DES
Des is a masculine given name, mostly a short form (hypocorism) of Desmond. People named Des include:
People
* Des Buckingham, English football manager
* Des Corcoran, (1928–2004), Australian politician
* Des Dillon (disambiguation), sever ...
,
3DES,
AES, and
RC4
In cryptography, RC4 (Rivest Cipher 4, also known as ARC4 or ARCFOUR, meaning Alleged RC4, see below) is a stream cipher. While it is remarkable for its simplicity and speed in software, multiple vulnerabilities have been discovered in RC4, ren ...
encryption algorithms, and the
MD5 and
SHA-1
In cryptography, SHA-1 (Secure Hash Algorithm 1) is a cryptographically broken but still widely used hash function which takes an input and produces a 160-bit (20-byte) hash value known as a message digest – typically rendered as 40 hexadecima ...
hash algorithms.
Au1100 processors integrate an
LCD controller which supports panels up to 800 × 600 pixels with 16 bit color depth. The LCD controller of Au12xx processors supports up to 2K resolution and up to 24 bits per pixel, four overlay windows, alpha blending, and gamma correction. The Camera Interface Module pins out an
ITU-R BT.656
ITU-R Recommendation BT.656, sometimes also called ITU656, describes a simple digital video protocol for streaming uncompressed PAL or NTSC standard-definition television (625 lines, 625 or 525 lines) signals. The protocol builds upon the 4:2:2 dig ...
compatible 8/9/10-bit bus running at up to 33 MHz, and supports UYVY (
YUV 4:2:2) and
Bayer RGB to planar format conversion. The Media Acceleration Engine accelerates video decoding and supports the formats
MPEG-1/2/4,
DivX-3/4/5,
H.263, and
WMV 9/VC-1 at resolutions up to 720 × 576. It supports hardware colorspace conversion and image scaling with a 4-tap filter, also for the CIM. The MAE2 peripheral of Au13xx processors adds support for the
H.264
Advanced Video Coding (AVC), also referred to as H.264 or MPEG-4 Part 10, is a video compression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensated coding. It is by far the most commonly used format for the recording, compression, and distr ...
and
JPEG
JPEG ( ) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and imag ...
standards, hardware bit stream decoding, and resolutions up to 720p. The Graphics Processing Engine available on some Au13xx processors is an
ARM Mali-200 and accelerates 2D and 3D graphics compatible with
OpenVG
OpenVG is an API designed for hardware-accelerated 2D vector graphics. Its primary platforms are mobile phones, gaming & media consoles and consumer electronic devices. It was designed to help manufacturers create more attractive user interfaces ...
1.1 and
OpenGL ES
OpenGL for Embedded Systems (OpenGL ES or GLES) is a subset of the OpenGL computer graphics rendering application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D computer graphics such as those used by video games, typically hardware-accel ...
1.1 and 2.0.
Each member of the family was available with different core frequency and hence power ratings, commercial and industrial temperature ranges, in a
Pb-free or (earlier models) standard package. A low profile, fine pitch plastic ball grid array (LF-PBGA) package was used for all models, with ball counts from 324 (Au1000) to 537 (Au13xx), pitch 0.65 mm to 1.0 mm, and package size 17 mm × 17 mm × 1.7 mm to 23 mm × 23 mm × 1.5 mm.
Alchemy Processor Family
[Programmable Serial Controller configurable as ]AC'97
AC'97 (''Audio Codec '97;'' also MC'97 for ''Modem Codec '97'') is an Sound reproduction, audio codec standard developed by Intel Architecture Labs in 1997. The standard was used in motherboards, modems, and sound cards.
The specification covers ...
, I²S
I²S (Inter-IC Sound, pronounced "eye-squared-ess"), is an electrical serial bus interface standard used for connecting digital audio devices together. It is used to communicate PCM audio data between integrated circuits in an electronic device ...
, SPI, SMBus The System Management Bus (abbreviated to SMBus or SMB) is a single-ended simple two-wire bus for the purpose of lightweight communication. Most commonly it is found in computer motherboards for communication with the power source for ON/OFF instru ...
interface.
[15-bit address bus, 30 bit with an external latch.]
[Used i]
CD-R King notebooks
Applications
Alchemy processors were marketed for wireless
gateways and
access points;
VoIP
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), also called IP telephony, is a method and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. The terms Internet t ...
,
navigation
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
, and
NAS
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air ( ...
devices;
STB
State Security ( cs, Státní bezpečnost, sk, Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it d ...
s, thin clients, portable and automotive TV and
media players
A media player could refer to:
*Digital media player, home appliances that play digital media
*Media player software, software that plays digital media
*Portable media player, portable hardware that plays digital media
*Windows Media Player
Wi ...
, and
digital photo frame
A digital photo frame (also called a digital media frame) is a picture frame that displays digital photos without the need of a computer or printer. The introduction of digital photo frames predates tablet computers, which can serve the same p ...
s.
Examples are the
Sun Ray 2 family of
thin client
In computer networking, a thin client is a simple (low-performance) computer that has been optimized for establishing a remote connection with a server-based computing environment. They are sometimes known as ''network computers'', or in th ...
s., Several
Cowon
Cowon Systems, Inc. (simply known as Cowon) is a South Korean consumer electronics and software corporation. The company’s initial focus was software development and microelectronics, specializing in speech synthesis and speech recognition tec ...
PMP devices,
Dell
Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies.
Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data ...
DRAC5 remote administration cards,
AirPort
An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...
Extreme Base Station, embedded products for networking by
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Sun for short) was an American technology company that sold computers, computer components, software, and information technology services and created the Java programming language, the Solaris operating system, ZFS, the ...
; 4G Systems MTX-1 AccessCube MeshCube
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
Alchemy page at linux-mips.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alchemy
AMD microprocessors
MIPS microprocessors