Advanced RISC Machines Ltd, Cambridge has announced the latest iteration of its RISC, the ARM 7, offering higher performance, lower power consumption and improved signal processing support. It has also implemented an innovative debugging system in the silicon to help fault-find in embedded systems. GEC Plessey Semiconductors is the first of the ARM licensees to start sampling the new part and is pricing the ARM700 processor at around $35 each in quantities of 10,000; volume is set for early next year. The ARM700 is the stand-alone processor equivalent to the ARM600, though it is not being positioned as the successor. Where the 5V ARM600 runs at 25MHz, consumes 180mW, and does 24 MIPS, the ARM700 runs either in a 5V, 33MHz or a 3V, 20MHz mode. In both the ARM700 draws less power than the older chip. At 20MHz the new chip runs slower than the ARM600, but at 33MHz, it is rated at 29 MIPS, only commensurate with the increased clock speed. VLSI Technology says that at the beginning of next year a number of ISDN telephones will appear based on ASICs using the ARM core. Groupe Speciale Mobile digital cellular handsets are to follow later in the year. VLSI is also doing a fuzzy co-processor that can be implemented as a separate chip or on the same silicon.
