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Inside the StarCore SC140

A BDTI Technical Evaluation

The first independent, in-depth report to evaluate the StarCore SC140, a high-performance VLIW DSP core jointly developed by Agere [formerly Lucent] Technologies and Motorola. This report provides a comprehensive qualitative analysis of the processor's architecture and features, along with a complete quantitative analysis based on results from BDTI's DSP benchmark suite. The SC140's performance is compared to that of key competitors, with benchmark results analyzed in terms of underlying architectural strengths and weaknesses. The report includes results for the Motorola MSC8101, the first commercial SC140-based chip announced by Motorola. (Agere had not announced any SC140-based products at the time of the evaluation.)

Like all of the reports in the series, Inside the StarCore SC140:

Is based on hands-on programming experience
Includes industry-standard BDTI Benchmark™ results
Identifies processor strengths and weaknesses
Compares performance to that of key competitors
Provides timely information from the established leader in DSP technology analysis

Report includes analysis of SC140's:

Architecture
Data path
Instruction set
Execution control
On-chip debugging support
Benchmark performance
Fabrication details
Development tools
Applications support
Advantages
Disadvantages

Introduction
About the authors
Qualitative Analysis of the SC140
Overview of competitors
- Lucent Technologies DSP16xxx
- Texas Instruments TMS320C54xx
- Texas Instruments TMS320CC62xx
Analysis and comparison of benchmark results
Conclusions
Appendix: Contains complete BDTI Benchmark results for SC140 and competitors

Excerpts from BDTI's analysis:

On the vector dot product benchmark, the SC140 not only performs twice as many multiply-accumulates per cycle as the TMS320C62xx and the DSP16xxx, it also consumes the fewest cycles for overhead operations.

The [SC140's] MAC units, ALUs, and BFUs are not independent. Hence, it is not possible, for example, to issue a set of instructions that use all four MAC units and also one of the BFUs.

Sample Benchmark results

Execution Time for BDTI's Real Block FIR
(lower is faster)

*Results are for one of the two DSP cores on the DSP16410.
All chip speeds are projected for June 2000.

BDTI's Inside Series

Inside the StarCore SC140 is one of many reports in BDTI's series of focused reports on single processors. The series also includes:

The BDTI Benchmarks™

The analysis in Inside the StarCore SC140 is based on the results of the BDTI Benchmarks, an industry-standard suite of DSP algorithm kernels. Each benchmark is painstakingly written and optimized in native assembly language following a strict specification.

Pricing, Shipping, and Ordering Information

First copy: $950
Contact BDTI for additional copy pricing.
Discounts are available on volume orders. Contact BDTI at info@bdti.com for details.
California orders must add appropriate sales tax.
All sales are final and are subject to BDTI's Terms and Conditions of Sale.

Reports are shipped via FedEx 2-Day service. International shipments are sent via FedEx International Priority Service. No charge for shipping within the U.S. International shipping is $75.
International customers must complete and return an Export Restriction Acknowledgement.

Orders may be placed with payment by check, purchase order, or credit card.
To order Inside the StarCore SC140, download an order form in HTML or PDF, complete it and return it to BDTI by mail or fax.

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