Imperas Software Ltd., the leader in RISC-V simulation solutions, today announced that Imagination Technologies, a global technology leader in silicon IP (intellectual property), has approved the Imperas model of IMG RTXM-2200 as a reference for software development in virtual platforms as well as supported EDA environments.
IMG RTXM-2200 is the first core from Imagination’s RISC-V Catapult range. It is a highly scalable real-time, deterministic, 32-bit embedded CPU, that is feature-rich and flexible in design for mainstream devices. It is targeted as a solution for markets such as cellular base stations, networking solutions for data transfer, packet management, and storage controllers. It can also be used as a helper core in complex SoCs.
Instruction Accurate (IA) processor models offer a programmer’s view of the hardware that allows software development to start many months before actual hardware implementations are available. The benefit in overall project schedules and time-to-market advantages are typically known as the ‘shift-left’ technique. Since software development starts much earlier than anticipated on the original project timeline chart, the related project activities and anticipated completion are seen to shift to the left on the time axis.
The Imperas simulation technology and tools help with all of the key software phases of an SoC project, from early software development right through to end users that can use the Imperas Fixed Platform Kits (FPK) as a replacement for the traditional development boards. FPK’s are pre-configured platform models with a binary deliverable for friction-free installation.
“The pace of innovation in markets such as the latest 5G communication networks and infrastructure offers many opportunities for new domain-specific SoC solutions,” said Chris Porthouse, Chief Product Officer at Imagination Technologies. “As a leading supplier of silicon IP, we fully appreciate the role of the ecosystem in supporting our lead customers in delivering new devices to market. We are pleased Imperas have now released the first Catapult RISC-V CPU Imperas reference model for the IMG RTXM-2200, which provides our mutual customers a proven path to accelerate projects to market.”
“Software development has a profound impact on schedules, not just as a factor in getting new devices to market but now also how the end systems are designed and developed around these new SoCs,” said Simon Davidmann, CEO at Imperas Software Ltd. “Imagination has the vision and insight to help smooth the transitional phases of early design, implementation, and go-to-market support at the end users, and we are excited that Imperas is part of the supporting ecosystem for the new Imagination Catapult RISC-V CPU, the IMG RTXM-2200.”