MIPS Everywhere

Storage

Overview

The trend towards more reliable, higher data rate storage systems is creating the need for more efficient protocols, such as PCI Express (PCIe) and higher performing interfaces of 10Gb Ethernet and Fibre Channel. This is driving the need to re-design SoCs to accommodate the latest standards and to develop an updated architecture to implement the advanced hardware acceleration and security engines required.

In addition to enterprise systems, similar growth in storage requirements is migrating to digital home appliances-MP3 players, digital video recorders (DVRs), personal media players (PMPs) -with similar security needs and improved protocols (SATA) but with more stringent price/performance requirements.

Solid State Devices (SSDs) require control SoCs to maintain a sustained performance of 30Mb/s sustained R/W rate with a high degree of reliability achieved by implementing embedded error correction and advanced wear leveling algorithms. Reduced power consumption is a key requirement, especially when SSD is used in portable, battery-powered devices.

MIPS® Solution

MIPS32® 24K® and MIPS32® 34K® families of processor cores provide the control plane performance, network and application layer acceleration capabilities along with best-in-class Linux-optimized architecture required to implement an effective enterprise storage solution.

For SSD designs, the MIPS32® 4KE® and the SmartMIPS®-enabled MIPS32® 4KSdTM devices provide the following benefits:

  • Performance: 1.5 DMIPS/MHz minimizing the required frequency and accelerating processing of the flash algorithms
  • Code Compression: Reducing SoC cost
  • Cache & SRAM interface: Enhancing IPC performance and data throughput
  • MMU & SmartMIPS: Enabling data protection and security
  • CorExtend®: Offload processing of complex algorithms
  • Co-Processor Interface: Provides a simple extension to implement error-correction and DMA circuitry.
  • Low Power: Minimize potential thermal issues

Ecosystem: Reduce development time by enabling third party RTOS, tools and development systems.