EMBEDDED
4. Partners: Early partner integration, by considering ArmNIC, ArmCorstone and Arteris Network on Chip technology for the fabric.
SoC Chassis Central to the SFA 100 platformis the concept of an “SoC Chassis", which comprises:
1. Feature Set –What are standard supported features for IoT and required options
2. Build –What are the rules about building the chassismain fabric sub-systemand local or customer fabric inclusion.
3. Services – Power Distribution and Management such as Power Domains, Power Monitoring, Security and Analogue IP. Also Clock and Reset architectures and strategy.
4. DMA – possible standard DMA service that the SoC usecase can exploit.
5. Scalability and Extensibility – architecture/chassis supported mechanisms,methods etc.
The Chassis structure is an abstraction
that solves common SoCmodelling, design, integration, and verification issues in a consistentmanner. As shown in the block diagramin Figure 2,
the SFA 100 chassis integrates the Arm Cortex-M55, which can optionally be swapped for a lower performant Cortex- M33. Also implemented is system-level security with the TrustZone technology. It combines a single Cortex-M55 processor with ExternalWakeup Interrupt Controller, AXI interconnect, TrustZone Filters, Bridges, Access Control Gates and an SRAM controller. It incorporatesmultiple power domains, clock, and reset control infrastructure. The chassis is readily extensible by connecting third-party IP via expansion interfaces. The chassis is architected in a way that
allows quick and straightforward integration of third-party IP, and typically the following steps and rules need to be considered:
1. Connection of the required clocks and resets to the SFA 100 Chassis
2. Creation of extra functionality within the Chassis using expansion blocks
3. Expansion of clock domains 4. Expansion of power control 5. Tie-off unused signals 6. Hierarchy and systemtopology changes to assist with integration and layout
7. Porting expansion interfaces from expansion blocks to the top-level
8. Design and Verification of Power Control State Machinemodules
9. Checking that hierarchy changes are valid
10.Validation of the integration of the third- party IP to the chassis
Figure 2 : Sondrel SFA 100 Chassis Architecture with Expansion Interfaces SEPTEMBER 2021 | ELECTRONICS TODAY 45
11. Planning and execution of the complete verification of the full platform, including code and functional coverage definition and closure
12. Validation that the example subsystem meets your application requirements
13. Performance analysis of the integrated components
14.Physical integration of special cells, modules, RAMs, and ROMs
15.DFT strategies for the full SoC 16. Floorplanning, physical integration, layout, and sign off
Wireless connectivity Interoperability is essential to give consumers confidence that their investment in connected devices will deliver sufficient value for their needs over time. The continued evolution of low-power wireless technologies, including Bluetooth Low Energy, 802.15.4, andWiFi, as well as low- power cellular technologies, such as LoRa, are helping to open up the way to better interoperability. Bluetooth LE has given everything personally connected a clear, de facto standard, but connected homes, buildings, factories, farms, and cities still require different communication technologies tomeet specific needs. For this reason, the SFA 100 comes pre-integrated with a Radio Sub-Systemto support the wireless connectivity requirements needed by an application.
Security of data Security is essential to protect IoT devices fromevolutionary threats such as theft,
tampering, side-channel attacks, hardware, and data leaks. Existing systems that use limited data encryption or software-based security solutions are generally not secure enough. The SFA 100 solves the security problemby adopting the ArmTrustZone technology providing trusted operating environments for applications to run in.
Lowpower IoT and wearable device battery life and cost continue to be impacted by energy use. To solve this key challenge, developments in improving energy economy extend far beyond themobile phone, PC peripheral, and vehiclemarkets. The SFA 100 has specific architectural features geared towards ensuring optimal power consumption.
Additional features Object, facial, and gesture identification, voice recognition, enhancedmotor control, sensor fusion, and other new and improved sensor and control capabilities driven by the need for on device AI processing are supported to improve the user experience and overall systemfeatures. Whether the project’s aims are to secure,
decrease power, add connectivity, or improve the sensor interface of the SoC, the Sondrel SFA 100 reference design helps reach the design objectives faster and with substantially less cost and risk.
Sondrel
www.sondrel.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58
