Design and architecture for an embedded 32-bit QueueCore

Abstract

Queue based instruction set architecture processor offers an attractive option in the design of embedded systems by providing high performance for a specific application. This work describes the design results and methodology of a queue processor core, named QueueCore, as a starting point for application-specific processor (ASP) design. By using simple and common base queue instruction set, the design space exploration is focused on the application-specific aspects of performance.

In any new architecture, verification, which usually requires complicated and lengthy software simulation of an emulated model, is an important aspect. We show how cooperative hardware emulation, based on programmable logic, can be integrated into a co-design flow to evaluate the performance of the novel QueueCore processor and to verify the functional correctness of a specific benchmark on the system core.

To avoid duplication of the design effort, different target implementations are derived from a common source. We present the evaluation results of the QueueCore for three different platforms.