MicroBlaze

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The MicroBlaze is a soft processor core from Xilinx optimized for use in Xilinx FPGAs. A soft processor is a processor created out of the configurable logic in an FPGA. The MicroBlaze is based on a RISC architecture very similar to the DLX architecture described in a popular computer architecture book by Patterson and Hennessy. It features a configurable 3-stage or 5-stage pipeline (trading off size for clock rate), with an instruction completing in each cycle. Both instruction and data words are 32 bits. The MicroBlaze can reach speeds of up to 210 MHz on the Virtex-5 FPGA family. This processor can connect to the CoreConnect OPB bus for access to a wide range of different modules. It can also communicate via the LMB bus for a fast access to local memory which is normally BRAM that are inside the FPGA.

Many aspects of the MicroBlaze can be user configured: cache size, embedded peripherals, and bus-interfaces can be customized. In addition, certain key processor instructions (multiplication, division, and floating-point arithmetic) can be selectively added/removed. Customization enables a developer to make the appropriate design tradeoffs for the application target. For example, performance critical algorithms can be accelerated by offloading part of the computation from Microblaze to a custom coprocessor. The coprocessor(s) and Microblaze core communicate via a dedicated FIFO-style interface call FSL (Fast Simplex Link).

Starting with version 7.0, MicroBlaze supports an optional memory management unit. Without the MMU, Microblaze can run operating systems with only a simplified protection and virtual memory-model: e.g., µClinux and FreeRTOS. The MMU enables Microblaze to support operating systems which require hardware-based paging and protection, such as the Linux kernel,

The MicroBlaze core and various related peripheral cores are provided as part of the Xilinx Embedded Development Kit (EDK), which also includes software development tools for both MicroBlaze and PowerPC, including the GNU Tool suite including GNU C Compiler, GNU Debugger, and a project manager based on the Eclipse IDE.

Purchasers of the EDK are licensed to use the MicroBlaze core in their designs in Xilinx FPGAs without any royalty payments. The MicroBlaze design is written in VHDL, but the EDK only contains encrypted RTL. Non-encrypted (human-readable) RTL source can be purchased separately.

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[edit] Other soft processors

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