Development platform rolls for PXA3xx processors

Synopsys Inc. unveils the DesignWare VPXA3 Virtual Platform for development of smartphones, handheld and consumer electronics devices that use Marvell PXA3xx XScale technology application processor.

Synopsys' Virtual Platforms improve design quality and shorten time-to-market by allowing the software team to start software development up to nine months before the silicon prototype is available. By continuously integrating the software and hardware before hardware is available, developers can find and fix SW/HW integration issues before tapeout.

The DesignWare VPXA3 Virtual Platform provides software engineers with a high-speed, pre-silicon software execution environment that allows the development of SoC related software before hardware is available. The Virtual Platform technology enables the creation of a software model of a complete system that fully mirrors the functionality of a complex, multicore hardware platform. The DesignWare Virtual Platforms combine high-speed processor instruction-set simulators and high-level, fully functional transaction-level models of the hardware building blocks to provide a high-level model of the HW/SW developer.

Synopsys also provides the complete HW/SW development and validation environment for designers using the Marvell PXA application processors. Marvell Technology used the DesignWare VPXA3 Virtual Platform for pre- and post-silicon software development, HW/SW integration and system validation. The DesignWare VPXA3 Virtual Platform helped Marvell engineers shorten time-to-market and improve design quality, and also allowed them to execute their software—including the post-silicon software tests—before the hardware was available.

The Marvell PXA3xx application processors was designed for feature-rich handsets, smartphones, GPS navigation systems, wireless handhelds and other consumer electronics devices. Marvell application processors deliver high-resolution VGA multimedia performance with the extended battery life required for today's advanced 3G A/V applications.

The DesignWare VPXA3 Virtual Platform software development environment systems are available now.