The L4 provides a low-cost entry-level platform for embedded designers using multi-core technology for the first time.
XMOS has unveiled what it believes to be the world’s lowest cost multicore microcontroller. The xCORE XS1-L4-64 integrates four 32-bit logical processor cores at a price that is comparable with competing single-core devices. The L4 provides an entry-level platform for designers considering multicore technology for the first time;. It is pin-compatible with other members of the xCORE family, opening up the opportunity to cost-down existing designs.
Ali Dixon, director of product marketing and co-founder, XMOS, “The xCORE L4 offers 400MIPS performance at the price point of other manufacturers’ 40 or 50MIPS products. Embedded designers working on high-volume applications can now add more features, including those that require real-time determinism, with software that is functionally safe. We believe it’s a real game-changer.”
The new device is ideal for accurate stepper motor control, industrial networking and motion control. With 64-bit precision DSP capability, it is also particularly well suited for signal conditioning tasks and applications such as control that combine cost-sensitivity with high performance demands. The xCORE L4 will also help drive the growing trend towards distributed intelligence in embedded design, by allowing developers to locate low-cost processing and communications closer to system nodes such as sensors and actuators.
