Andes Technology announced the release of its latest innovation - the AndesCore?? D23 and N225 RISC-V processors. Specifically designed to cater to the dynamic needs of the Internet of Things (IoT) and embedded systems, these cores epitomize Andes' unwavering commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology for the interconnected world.

The D23 and N225 cores have been meticulously engineered with compactness, performance-efficiency, low-power consumption, flexibility, and security as top priorities. These cores empower IoT and embedded chip and device manufacturers to meet the burgeoning demands of a rapidly evolving market while minimizing power usage and ensuring robust security. Andes announced the popular N22, a 2-stage pipeline AndesCore implementing RV32I/EMAC ISA back in February 2019, targeting deeply embedded processing and having a performance of 3.95 Coremark/MHz and 1.8 DMIPS/MHz.

The D23 and N 225 are revamped designs with a new microarchitecture and the latest RISC-V extensions to offer better performance, smaller code size, and more security support. They provide a good migration path for customers looking to upgrade their N22 designs or kick-off a new design. Common Key Features of AndesCore D23 and N225: Latest RISC-V Extensions Support: The N225 implements the RV32 IMACBZce non-privileged extensions as well as Machine/User modes and Enhanced Physical Memory Protection (ePMP).

The D23 additionally supports the FDKP extensions (Single/Double-Precision Floating-Point, Scalar Crypto and Packed SIMD/DSP draft), and CMO (Cache Management Operations) extension. The D23 is also incorporated with Supervisor mode and its associated PMP (sPMP) for higher security. High Performance: Both cores achieve performance in their class, boasting outstanding benchmark scores such as 4.55 (D23) and 4.4 (N225) Coremark/MHz, and 2.08 (D23) and 1.92 (N225) DMIPS/MHz, respectively.

They are capable of operating at high frequencies across various technology nodes such as near 800 MHz at 28nm, providing the necessary computing power for edge IoT devices with ever-increasing performance and feature demands. Power Management: Both cores support advanced power management technologies such as PowerBrake and Wait-For-Interrupt (WFI) and Wait-For-Event (WFE), ensuring prolonged battery life for many types of untethered IoT devices. Small Code Size: The N22 already offers code size with Andes CoDense??

technology. With the addition of the new RISC-V Zce code size reduction extension, the D23 and N225 further reduce 4.4% code size for the Embench-IoT benchmark, compared to the N22. This provides additional memory cost-saving for Andes customers.

Flexibility: Both cores offer extensive configurability, including optimized multipliers for performance or area, optional static or dynamic branch prediction, various combinations of privilege modes, instruction and data. Local memories with sizes from 1 KB to 512 MB, and 2-wire or 4-wire JTAG debug interface. Designers can tailor these features to address their specific application requirements.

In addition to the above-mentioned shared features and latest RISC-V extensions, the D23 core boasts additional capabilities, including built-in instruction and data cache, and ECC soft error protection for all cache and local memories. It can also seamlessly integrate with the powerful ACE?? (Andes Custom Extension) to support custom instructions for Domain-Specific Acceleration (DSA) and has a roadmap to include a functional safety derivative.

These expanded capabilities open up opportunities for the D23 to serve a wider range of segments in automotive and industrial control applications.