Reference design supports IEEE 1588 implementation

Microsemi Corp. has unveiled an IP and reference design for IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol (PTP) on its SmartFusion customisable system-on-chip (cSoC) devices. Microsemi's Core1588, part of Microsemi's DirectCore IP and Libero IDE software tools, is offered through Microsemi's SmartDesign IP catalog.

The Core1588 provides hardware support for the implementation of IEEE 1588 PTP capable systems, and interacts with firmware provided in the reference design. The IEEE 1588 PTP allows synchronization of devices connected to an Ethernet network with a high level of accuracy. One of the devices on the network serves as the master clock, while the other devices behave as slave clocks synchronizing to the master clock's value. The master clock is dynamically selected among the PTP capable devices on the network. The IEEE 1588 best master clock (BMC) algorithm is used to determine which device should be used as the master clock device.

SmartFusion cSoCs are devices that integrate an FPGA, a complete microcontroller built around a hard ARM Cortex-M3 processor and programmable analog, enabling full customization, IP protection and ease-of-use. Based on Microsemi's proprietary flash process, SmartFusion devices are targeted for hardware and embedded designers who need an integrated SoC that provides more flexibility than traditional fixed-function microcontrollers, and reduces the cost of soft processor cores on traditional FPGAs.

Microsemi offers a full featured reference design for Core1588, targeted to its SmartFusion evaluation and development kits with Core1588 to qualified customers at no charge.