Freescale Semiconductor announced two new single-core members of its PowerPC-based QorIQ family of system-on-chips (SoCs). The QorIQ P1010 and less-feature-rich P1014 clock to 800MHz and can run on as little as 1.1 Watts, and the P1010 model is the first QorIQ SoC to integrate multiple FlexCAN controllers for industrial automation, says the company.

The QorIQ P1010 and P1014 are designed for factory equipment, digital video recorders, and storage products, says Freescale. In addition, the P1010 model is a good choice for cost-sensitive networking endpoint applications, including SOHO routers, says the chipmaker.

The P1010 was one of the first models to be listed when the QorIQ line was announced back in June 2008. However, neither it nor the similar P1014 will start sampling until the first quarter of 2011, and they won't ship until the fourth quarter of 2011, according to Freescale.

Freescale QorIQ P101/P1014 block diagram
(Click to enlarge)

In recent years, a number of multicore QorIQ models have sampled and shipped, including the popular, eight-core P4080. In June of this year, Freescale announced new P3 and P5 QorIQ families, as well its first 64-bit Power Architecture core, clockable to 2.5GHz.

On the lower end, Freescale first shipped the P1013 and P1022, which offer single- or dual PowerPC e500 cores, respectively, ranging from 600MHz to 1GHz. In December 2009, the company followed up with the QUICC-enabled P1012 and P1021, clocked from 533MHz to 800MHz, reflecting their legacy focus. In August, the company announced a single-core, 800MHz P1017 model, one of several QorIQ SoCs touted as incorporating the company's Data Path Acceleration Architecture (DPAA) technology.

Now come the P1010 and P1014, each of which integrates a single e500 core clocked to 800MHz. The P1010 is the first QorIQ SoC to integrate multiple FlexCAN controllers, allowing OEMs to implement industrial protocols in factory automation systems, says Freescale.

The P1010 also provides a trust architecture security accelerator for secure fast boot. The security feature protects against software intrusion and software cloning "by incorporating advanced end-to-end code signing and intrusion prevention capabilities," says the company.

The P1414 lacks the P1010's FlexCAN controllers and security extras. In addition, while the P1010 offers three gigabit Ethernet controllers, the P1014 supplies only two. The only other apparent difference is that the P1010 offers a 16/32-bit DDR3/DDR3L SDRAM controller, while the P1014's controller is 16-bit only.

The P1010 and P1014 are each equipped with 32KB L1 instruction cache and 32KB L1 data cache, says Freescale. The supplied 256KB L2 cache is also said to be configurable as SRAM and stashing memory.

Both models incorporate dual PCI Express (PCIe) controllers, two SATA controllers, and an SD/MMC interface, says Freescale. Other I/O is said to include a USB 2.0 controller, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) dual I2C controllers, and dual SGMII controllers (see link at end for full spec list).

The processors are also said to incorporate "software fast path acceleration technology to deliver up to line rate performance for IPv4." This would appear to refer to the DPAA technology mentioned earlier in this story, although Freescale did not list this as a feature in the datasheet.

Packaged in a small (19 x19mm) 425-pin TEPBGA1, with a tight pitch at 0.8mm, the P1010 and P1014 enable a compact, low-layer board and smaller overall footprint, says Freescale. The low 1.1 Watt power consumption is said to allow for fanless designs.

Third-party Linux support coming

A P1010RDB reference design board incorporating the P1010 is planned for availability in Q1 2011, says Freescale. The company did not list OS support, but previous QorIQ SoCs have been supported with Linux support packages.

The new QorIQ parts will also be supported by Enea, Green Hills Software, Mentor Graphics, and Wind River, all of which offered testimonial quotes. Mentor Graphics and Wind River specifically mentioned Linux support.

Stated Brett Butler, general manager and vice president of Freescale's Networking Processor Division, "The P1010 is the newest member of the broad QorIQ product family, which scales from single-core offerings at 500MHz to multicore processors that deliver 2GHz."

Availability

General sampling for the QorIQ P1010 and P1014 products, as well as the P1010RDB reference design board, is planned for Q1 2011, with volume production expected in Q4 2011, says Freescale. More information on the P1010 and P1014 may be found here.

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