XScale is a
microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
for
central processing unit
A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, an ...
s initially designed by
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 ...
implementing the
ARM architecture
ARM (stylised in lowercase as arm, formerly an acronym for Advanced RISC Machines and originally Acorn RISC Machine) is a family of reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architectures for computer processors, configured ...
(version 5)
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 ' ...
. XScale comprises several distinct families: IXP, IXC, IOP, PXA and CE (see more below), with some later models designed as
system-on-a-chip
A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
(SoC). Intel sold the PXA family to
Marvell Technology Group
Marvell Technology, Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, which develops and produces semiconductors and related technology. Founded in 1995, the company had more than 6,000 employees as of 2021, with over 10,00 ...
in June 2006. Marvell then extended the brand to include processors with other
microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
s, like
ARM
In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...
's
Cortex
Cortex or cortical may refer to:
Biology
* Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ
** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain''
*** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...
.
The XScale architecture is based on the ARMv5TE
ISA without the
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 ...
instructions. XScale uses a seven-stage integer and an eight-stage memory super-
pipelined microarchitecture
In computer engineering, microarchitecture, also called computer organization and sometimes abbreviated as µarch or uarch, is the way a given instruction set architecture (ISA) is implemented in a particular processor. A given ISA may be impl ...
. It is the successor to the Intel
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 ...
line of
microprocessor
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 ...
s and
microcontroller
A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...
s, which Intel acquired from
DEC's Digital Semiconductor division as part of a settlement of a lawsuit between the two companies. Intel used the StrongARM to replace its ailing line of outdated
RISC
In computer engineering, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) is a computer designed to simplify the individual instructions given to the computer to accomplish tasks. Compared to the instructions given to a complex instruction set comput ...
processors, the
i860 and
i960
Intel's i960 (or 80960) was a RISC-based microprocessor design that became popular during the early 1990s as an embedded microcontroller. It became a best-selling CPU in that segment, along with the competing AMD 29000. In spite of its success, ...
.
All the generations of XScale are 32-bit ARMv5TE processors manufactured with a 0.18 μm or 0.13 μm (as in IXP43x parts) process and have a 32
KB data
cache
Cache, caching, or caché may refer to:
Places United States
* Cache, Idaho, an unincorporated community
* Cache, Illinois, an unincorporated community
* Cache, Oklahoma, a city in Comanche County
* Cache, Utah, Cache County, Utah
* Cache County ...
and a 32 KB instruction cache. First- and second-generation XScale
multi-core processor
A multi-core processor is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit with two or more separate processing units, called cores, each of which reads and executes program instructions. The instructions are ordinary CPU instructions (such a ...
s also have a 2 KB mini data cache (claimed it "avoids 'thrashing' of the D-Cache for frequently changing data streams"). Products based on the third-generation XScale have up to 512 KB unified L2 cache.
Processor families
The XScale core is used in a number of
microcontroller
A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...
families manufactured by
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 ...
and Marvell:
* Application processors (with the prefix PXA). There are four generations of XScale application processors, described below: PXA210/PXA25x, PXA26x, PXA27x, and PXA3xx.
* I/O processors (with the prefix IOP).
* Network processors (with the prefix IXP).
*
Control plane
In network routing, the control plane is the part of the router architecture that is concerned with drawing the network topology, or the information in a routing table that defines what to do with incoming packets. Control plane functions, such as ...
processors (with the prefix IXC).
* Consumer electronics processors (with the prefix CE).
There are also standalone processors: the 80200 and 80219 (targeted primarily at
PCI
PCI may refer to:
Business and economics
* Payment card industry, businesses associated with debit, credit, and other payment cards
** Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, a set of security requirements for credit card processors
* Pro ...
applications).
PXA
PXA System on a Chip (SoC) products were designed in Austin, Texas. The code-names for this product line are small towns in Texas, primarily near deer hunting leases frequented by the Intel XScale core and mobile phone SoC marketing team.
PXA210/PXA25x
![Typhoon MyGuide 3500 mobile - controller - Intel PXA255A0C300-1180](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Typhoon_MyGuide_3500_mobile_-_controller_-_Intel_PXA255A0C300-1180.jpg)
The PXA210 was Intel's entry-level XScale targeted at
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...
applications. It was released with the PXA250 in February 2002 and comes clocked at 133 MHz and 200 MHz.
The PXA25x family (code-named Cotulla) consists of the PXA250 and PXA255. The PXA250 was Intel's first generation of XScale processors. There was a choice of three
clock speed
In computing, the clock rate or clock speed typically refers to the frequency at which the clock generator of a processor can generate pulses, which are used to synchronize the operations of its components, and is used as an indicator of the pr ...
s: 200
MHz
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that one he ...
, 300 MHz and 400 MHz. It came out in February 2002. In March 2003, the revision C0 of the PXA250 was renamed to PXA255. The main differences were a doubled internal bus speed (100 MHz to 200 MHz) for faster data transfer, lower core voltage (only 1.3 V at 400 MHz) for lower power consumption and
writeback
In computing, a cache ( ) is a hardware or software component that stores data so that future requests for that data can be served faster; the data stored in a cache might be the result of an earlier computation or a copy of data stored elsewher ...
functionality for the data cache, the lack of which had severely impaired performance on the PXA250.
Intel XScale Core Features :
* ARMv5TE
* ARM Thumb
* ARM DSP
* L1 32-KByte data and instruction cache
PXA26x
The PXA26x family (code-named Dalhart) consists of the PXA260 and PXA261-PXA263. The PXA260 is a stand-alone processor clocked at the same frequency as the PXA25x, but features a TPBGA package which is about 53% smaller than the PXA25x's PBGA package. The PXA261-PXA263 are the same as the PXA260 but have Intel
StrataFlash memory stacked on top of the processor in the same package; 16 MB of 16-bit memory in the PXA261, 32 MB of 16-bit memory in the PXA262 and 32 MB of 32-bit memory in the PXA263. The PXA26x family was released in March 2003.
PXA27x
![Intel PXA270, 624MHz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Intel_PXA270%2C_624MHz.jpg)
The PXA27x family (code-named Bulverde) consists of the PXA270 and PXA271-PXA272 processors. This revision is a huge update to the XScale family of processors. The PXA270 is clocked in four different speeds: 312 MHz, 416 MHz, 520 MHz and 624 MHz and is a stand-alone processor with no packaged memory. The PXA271 can be clocked to 13, 104, 208 MHz or 416 MHz and has 32 MB of 16-bit stacked StrataFlash memory and 32 MB of 16-bit SDRAM in the same package. The PXA272 can be clocked to 312 MHz, 416 MHz or 520 MHz and has 64 MB of 32-bit stacked StrataFlash memory.
Intel also added many new technologies to the PXA27x family such as:
*
SpeedStep
Enhanced SpeedStep is a series of dynamic frequency scaling technologies (codenamed Geyserville and including SpeedStep, SpeedStep II, and SpeedStep III) built into some Intel microprocessors that allow the clock speed of the processor to be dynami ...
: the operating system can clock the processor down based on load to save power.
* Wireless
MMX (code-named Concan; "iwMMXt"): 43 new
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) is a type of parallel processing in Flynn's taxonomy. SIMD can be internal (part of the hardware design) and it can be directly accessible through an instruction set architecture (ISA), but it should ...
instructions containing the full MMX
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 ' ...
and the integer instructions from Intel's
SSE instruction set along with some instructions unique to the XScale. Wireless MMX provides 16 extra 64-bit
registers that can be treated as an array of two 32-bit
word
A word is a basic element of language that carries an semantics, objective or pragmatics, practical semantics, meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of w ...
s, four 16-bit halfwords or eight 8-bit
byte
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit ...
s. The XScale core can then perform up to eight adds or four
MACs in parallel in a single cycle. This capability is used to boost speed in
decoding and
encoding
In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...
of multimedia and in playing games.
* Additional
peripherals
A peripheral or peripheral device is an auxiliary device used to put information into and get information out of a computer. The term ''peripheral device'' refers to all hardware components that are attached to a computer and are controlled by the ...
, such as a USB-Host interface and a camera interface.
* Internal 256 KB
SRAM to reduce power consumption and latency.
The PXA27x family was released in April 2004. Along with the PXA27x family Intel released the
2700G embedded graphics
co-processor
A coprocessor is a computer processor used to supplement the functions of the primary processor (the CPU). Operations performed by the coprocessor may be floating-point arithmetic, graphics, signal processing, string processing, cryptography
...
(code-named Marathon).
PXA3xx
In August 2005 Intel announced the successor to Bulverde, codenamed Monahans.
They demonstrated it showing its capability to play back high definition encoded video on a
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
screen.
The new processor was shown clocked at 1.25 GHz but Intel said it only offered a 25% increase in performance (800
MIPS for the 624 MHz PXA270 processor vs. 1000 MIPS for 1.25 GHz Monahans). An announced successor to the 2700G graphics processor, code named Stanwood, has since been canceled. sd features of Stanwood are integrated into Monahans. For extra graphics capabilities, Intel recommends third-party chips like the
Nvidia
Nvidia CorporationOfficially written as NVIDIA and stylized in its logo as VIDIA with the lowercase "n" the same height as the uppercase "VIDIA"; formerly stylized as VIDIA with a large italicized lowercase "n" on products from the mid 1990s to ...
GoForce
The Nvidia GoForce was a line of chipsets that was used mainly in handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones. Nvidia acquired graphics display processor firm MediaQ in 2003, and rebranded the division as GoForce. It has since been replaced by ...
chip family.
In November 2006,
Marvell Semiconductor
Marvell Technology, Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, which develops and produces semiconductors and related technology. Founded in 1995, the company had more than 6,000 employees as of 2021, with over 10,00 ...
officially introduced the Monahans family as Marvell PXA320, PXA300, and PXA310. PXA320 is currently shipping in high volume, and is scalable up to 806 MHz. PXA300 and PXA310 deliver performance "scalable to 624 MHz", and are software-compatible with PXA320.
PXA800F
Codenamed Manitoba, Intel PXA800F was a SoC introduced by Intel in 2003 for use in
GSM
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such ...
- and
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data standard on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile communications (GSM). GPRS was established by European Telecommunications Standards Insti ...
-enabled mobile phones. The chip was built around an
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 ...
processor core, the likes of which had been used in PDAs, clocked at 312 MHz and manufactured with a 0.13 μm process, with 4 MB of integrated flash memory and a
digital signal processor
A digital signal processor (DSP) is a specialized microprocessor chip, with its architecture optimized for the operational needs of digital signal processing. DSPs are fabricated on MOS integrated circuit chips. They are widely used in audio si ...
.
A prototype board with the chip was demoed during the Intel Developer Forum. Intel noted it was in talks with leading mobile phone manufacturers, such as
Nokia
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...
,
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
,
Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
,
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', '' ...
and
Sony Ericsson
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. ( ja, ソニーモバイルコミュニケーションズ株式会社) was a multinational telecommunications company founded on October 1, 2001, as a joint venture between Sony Group Corporation and Ericsson. I ...
, about incorporating Manitoba into their phones.
O2 XM, released in 2005, was the only mobile phone with a documented use of the Manitoba chip. An Intel executive stated that the chip version used in the phone was reworked to be less expensive than the initial one.
PXA90x
The PXA90x, codenamed Hermon, was a successor to Manitoba with
3G support. The PXA90x is built using a 130 nm process. The SoC continued being marketed by Marvell as they acquired Intel's XScale business.
PXA16x
![SOM168](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/SOM168.jpg)
PXA16x is a processor designed by Marvell, combining the earlier Intel designed PXA
SoC components with a new ARMv5TE CPU core named Mohawk or PJ1 from Marvell's Sheeva family instead of using wdc Xscale or ARM design. The CPU core is derived from the Feroceon core used in Marvell's embedded
Kirkwood product line, but extended for instruction level compatibility with the XScale IWMMX.
The PXA16x delivers strong performance at a mass market price point for cost sensitive consumer and embedded markets such as digital picture frames, E Readers, multifunction printer user interface (UI) displays, interactive VoIP phones, IP surveillance cameras, and home control gadgets.
PXA930/935
The PXA930 and PXA935 processor series were again built using the Sheeva microarchitecture developed by Marvell but upgraded to ARMv7 instruction set compatibility. This core is a so-called Tri-core architecture
codenamed Tavor; Tri-core means it supports the ARMv5TE, ARMv6 and ARMv7 instruction sets.
[Marvell PXA935 (Tavor-P65) Application Processor with Modem Datasheet , CPUlist](_blank)
PDAdb.net (2012-02-25). Retrieved on 2013-08-02. This new architecture was a significant leap from the old Xscale architecture. The PXA930 uses 65 nm technology while the PXA935 is built using the 45 nm process.
The PXA930 is used in the BlackBerry Bold 9700.
PXA940
Little is known about the PXA940, although it is known to be
ARM Cortex-A8
The ARM Cortex-A8 is a 32-bit processor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture.
Compared to the ARM11, the Cortex-A8 is a dual-issue superscalar design, achieving roughly twice the instructions per cycle. The Cort ...
compliant. It is utilized in the BlackBerry Torch 9800 and is built using 45 nm technology.
PXA986/PXA988
After XScale and Sheeva, the PXA98x uses the third CPU core design, this time licensed directly from ARM, in form of dual core
Cortex A9 application processors utilized by devices like
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0.
PXA1088
It is a quad core
Cortex A7
The ARM Cortex-A7 MPCore is a 32-bit microprocessor core licensed by ARM Holdings implementing the ARMv7-A architecture announced in 2011.
Overview
It has two target applications; firstly as a smaller, simpler, and more power-efficient succes ...
application processor with
Vivante
Vivante Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, with an R&D center in Shanghai, China. The company was founded in 2004 as GiQuila and focused on the portable gaming market. The company's first prod ...
GPU.
IXC
IXC1100
The IXC1100 processor features clock speeds at 266, 400, and 533 MHz, a 133 MHz bus, 32 KB of instruction cache, 32 KB of data cache, and 2 KB of mini-data cache. It is also designed for low power consumption, using 2.4 W at 533 MHz. The chip comes in the 35 mm PBGA package.
IOP
The IOP line of processors is designed to allow computers and storage devices to transfer data and increase performance by offloading I/O functionality from the main CPU of the device. The IOP3XX processors are based on the XScale architecture and designed to replace the older 80219 sd and i960 family of chips. There are ten different IOP processors currently available: IOP303, IOP310, IOP315, IOP321, IOP331, IOP332, IOP333, IOP341, IOP342 and IOP348. Clock speeds range from 100 MHz to 1.2 GHz. The processors also differ in PCI bus type, PCI bus speed, memory type, maximum memory allowable, and the number of processor cores.
IXP network processor
The XScale core is utilized in the second generation of Intel's IXP network processor line, while the first generation used StrongARM cores. The IXP network processor family ranges from solutions aimed at small/medium office network applications, IXP4XX, to high performance network processors such as the IXP2850, capable of sustaining up to
OC-192 Optical Carrier transmission rates are a standardized set of specifications of transmission bandwidth for digital signals that can be carried on Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET) fiber optic networks. Transmission rates are defined by rate of t ...
line rates. In IXP4XX devices the XScale core is used as both a control and data plane processor, providing both system control and data processing. The task of the XScale in the IXP2XXX devices is typically to provide control plane functionality only, with data processing performed by the
microengines, examples of such control plane tasks include routing table updates, microengine control, memory management.
CE
In April 2007, Intel announced an XScale-based processor targeting
consumer electronics
Consumer electronics or home electronics are electronic (analog or digital) equipment intended for everyday use, typically in private homes. Consumer electronics include devices used for entertainment, communications and recreation. Usually r ...
markets, the Intel CE 2110 (codenamed Olo River).
Applications
XScale microprocessors can be found in products such as the popular
RIM BlackBerry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
handheld, the
Dell Axim Dell Axim.
The Dell Axim family of personal digital assistants was Dell's line of Windows Mobile-powered Pocket PC Devices. The first model, the Axim X5, was introduced in 2002, while the final model, the Axim X51, was discontinued on April 9, ...
family of
Pocket PC
A Pocket PC (P/PC, PPC) is a class of personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Windows Mobile or Windows Embedded Compact operating system that has some of the abilities of modern desktop PCs. The name was introduced by Microsoft in 2000 ...
s, most of the
Zire,
Treo and
Tungsten Handheld
The Tungsten series was Palm, Inc.'s line of business-class Palm OS-based PDAs.
Details
The Tungsten series was introduced in October 2002, created as a "prosumer" line priced at $199 to $300 to compete with the popular Sony Clie and Windows ...
lines by
Palm
Palm most commonly refers to:
* Palm of the hand, the central region of the front of the hand
* Palm plants, of family Arecaceae
**List of Arecaceae genera
* Several other plants known as "palm"
Palm or Palms may also refer to:
Music
* Palm (ba ...
, later versions of the
Sharp Zaurus
The Sharp Zaurus is the name of a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) made by Sharp Corporation. The Zaurus was the most popular PDA during the 1990s in Japan and was based on a proprietary operating system. The first Sharp PDA to use t ...
, the
Motorola A780
The Motorola A780 is the second cellular PDA running the Linux operating system.
It was introduced in 2003 and sold in Europe and Asia. Some models include GPS and navigation software.
Design
The Motorola A780 is a Linux-based smartphone. Wh ...
, the Acer n50, the Compaq
iPaq
The iPAQ is a discontinued Pocket PC and personal digital assistant which was first unveiled by Compaq in April 2000.
HP's line-up of iPAQ devices included PDA-devices, smartphones and GPS-navigators. A substantial number of devices were ...
3900 series and many other
PDA
PDA may refer to:
Science and technology
* Patron-driven acquisition, a mechanism for libraries to purchase books
*Personal digital assistant, a mobile device
* Photodiode array, a type of detector
* Polydiacetylenes, a family of conducting poly ...
s. It is used as the main
CPU in the
Iyonix PC
The Iyonix PC was an Acorn-clone personal computer sold by Castle Technology and Iyonix Ltd between 2002 and 2008. According to news site ''Slashdot'', it was the first personal computer to use Intel's XScale processor. It ran .
History
...
desktop computer running
RISC OS
RISC OS is a computer operating system originally designed by Acorn Computers Ltd in Cambridge, England. First released in 1987, it was designed to run on the ARM chipset, which Acorn had designed concurrently for use in its new line of Archim ...
, and the
NSLU2
The NSLU2 (Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives) is a network-attached storage (NAS) device made by Linksys introduced in 2004 and discontinued in 2008. It makes USB flash memory and hard disks accessible over a network using the SMB pro ...
(Slug) running a form of
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
. The XScale is also used in devices such as PVPs (Portable Video Players), PMCs (Portable Media Centres), including the
Creative Zen
ZEN is a series of discontinued portable media players designed and manufactured by Creative Technology Limited. The players evolved from the NOMAD brand through the NOMAD Jukebox series of music players, with the first separate "ZEN" branded mo ...
Portable Media Player and
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...
E-Book reader, and industrial embedded systems.
At the other end of the market, the XScale IOP33x Storage I/O processors are used in some Intel
Xeon
Xeon ( ) is a brand of x86 microprocessors designed, manufactured, and marketed by Intel, targeted at the non-consumer workstation, server, and embedded system markets. It was introduced in June 1998. Xeon processors are based on the same arc ...
-based server platforms.
Sale of PXA processor line
On June 27, 2006, the sale of Intel's XScale PXA mobile processor assets was announced. Intel agreed to sell the XScale PXA business to
Marvell Technology Group
Marvell Technology, Inc. is an American company, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, which develops and produces semiconductors and related technology. Founded in 1995, the company had more than 6,000 employees as of 2021, with over 10,00 ...
for an estimated $600 million in cash and the assumption of unspecified liabilities. The move was intended to permit Intel to focus its resources on its core x86 and server businesses. Marvell holds a full architecture license for ARM, allowing it to design chips to implement the ARM instruction set, not just license a processor core.
The acquisition was completed on November 9, 2006. Intel was expected to continue manufacturing XScale processors until Marvell secures other manufacturing facilities, and would continue manufacturing and selling the IXP and IOP processors, as they were not part of the deal.
The XScale effort at Intel was initiated by the purchase of 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 ...
division from
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president unt ...
in 1998.
Intel still holds an ARM license even after the sale of XScale;
this license is at the architectural level.
AMD Jumps Into The ARM Server Business
Forbes. Retrieved on 2013-08-02.
See also
* RedBoot
RedBoot (an acronym for Red Hat Embedded Debug and Bootstrap firmware) is an open-source application that uses the eCos real-time operating system Hardware Abstraction Layer to provide bootstrap firmware for embedded systems.
RedBoot allows d ...
— open-source bootloader, the standard boot firmware shipped with XScale boards
* OMAP
The OMAP (Open Multimedia Applications Platform) family, developed by Texas Instruments, was a series of image/video processors. They are proprietary system on chips (SoCs) for portable and mobile multimedia applications. OMAP devices generally i ...
— A competing processor line from Texas Instruments
* List of Qualcomm Snapdragon systems-on-chip
This is a list of Qualcomm Snapdragon System on a chip, systems on chips (SoC) made by Qualcomm for use in smartphones, Tablet computer, tablets, laptops, 2-in-1 PCs, smartwatches, and smartbooks devices.
Before Snapdragon
SoC made by Qualcom ...
- Qualcomm
Qualcomm () is an American multinational corporation headquartered in San Diego, California, and incorporated in Delaware. It creates semiconductors, software, and services related to wireless technology. It owns patents critical to the 5G, 4 ...
*Exynos
Exynos, formerly Hummingbird (), is a series of ARM-based system-on-chips developed by Samsung Electronics' System LSI division and manufactured by Samsung Foundry. It is a continuation of Samsung's earlier S3C, S5L and S5P line of SoCs.
Exy ...
- Samsung
The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...
*Comparison of ARMv7-A cores
This is a comparison of processors based on the ARM family of instruction sets designed by ARM Holdings and 3rd parties, sorted by version of the ARM instruction set, release and name.
ARMv6
ARMv7-A
This is a table comparing central proc ...
- ARM
In human anatomy, the arm refers to the upper limb in common usage, although academically the term specifically means the upper arm between the glenohumeral joint (shoulder joint) and the elbow joint. The distal part of the upper limb between th ...
References
External links
Intel XScale Technology Overview
Marvell PXA168 high-performance processor product brief
Optimized Linux Code for Intel XScale Microarchitecture
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ARM architecture
BlackBerry