News & Press

Eldorado Hills, CA. June 17, 2003 -- The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium is adding to the objective performance data available to help designers guide their choice of system-on-chip (SoC) processors with the publication of new benchmark scores for the 667-MHz IBM PowerPC®™ 440GX embedded processor.

Following on the publication of scores for IBM’s PowerPC 440GP in January 2003, the new PowerPC 440GX system-on-chip score reports will allow designers to make detailed comparisons between the two processors, which have achieved the highest scores for any SoC ever tested by EEMBC.

Out-of-the-box scores detailed in the following table were obtained using the Green Hills Software MULTI 3.6.1 compiler.

The IBM PowerPC 440GX processor contains several new features that significantly improve its performance over the 440GP processor. These include increased static random- access memory (SRAM), which can be configured as L2 or packet/code-store memory. In addition, the on-chip SRAM increases from 8 KB in the 440GP processor to 256 KB in the 440GX processor.

"When comparing the 440GX and 440GP, any individual benchmark kernels that exceed 33% better performance, such as packet flow within networking, indicate that the performance improvement is not derived solely from increased operating frequency,", said Markus Levy, EEMBC president. "The additional performance improvement demonstrates the benefits of the 440GX’s enhanced memory architecture and large L2 cache."

The PowerPC 440GX also includes a number of new features not directly addressed by the EEMBC benchmarks, including an expanded Ethernet controller interface, a TCP/IP acceleration hardware unit, and an I2O messaging unit for PCI-X. The new Ethernet controller increases the number of 10/100 Ethernet interfaces from two to four. Two of these Ethernet channels are capable of 1 Gbps, and support jumbo frames and TCP/IP assist. The impact of these enhancements will be addressed by future EEMBC benchmarks now under development.

"These performance scores from the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium illustrate the growing momentum the IBM PowerPC is generating," said Lisa Su, director of PowerPC and emerging products, IBM Microelectronics. "The benchmarks, combined with In-Stat/MDR's awarding the PowerPC 440GX best high-performance embedded processor of 2002, are valid proof points for IBM PowerPC technology."

"We are very pleased that IBM Microelectronics can showcase the high performance of the IBM PowerPC™ 440GX with scores obtained from the Green Hills compiler," said Christopher Smith, vice president of marketing for Green Hills Software. "The real-world nature of the EEMBC code means that developers have a reliable method for picking the best processor and compiler combination for their embedded applications."

In addition to the IBM PowerPC 440GP and PowerPC 440GX, EEMBC has also recently published benchmark scores for the IBM PowerPC 405GPr, making IBM the Consortium’s "most published" member in the past six months.

Detailed score reports on the IBM PowerPC 440GX are available now for free from the Search Benchmark Scores area of the EEMBC Web site (www.eembc.org).

About EEMBC

EEMBC, the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium, develops and certifies real-world benchmarks and benchmark scores to help designers select the right embedded processors for their systems. Every processor submitted for EEMBC® benchmarking is tested for parameters representing different workloads and capabilities in communications, networking, consumer, office automation, automotive/industrial, embedded Java, and microcontroller-related applications. With members including leading semiconductor, intellectual property, and compiler companies, EEMBC establishes benchmark standards and provides certified benchmarking results through the EEMBC Certification Labs (ECL) in Texas and California.

EEMBC members include 3DSP, Altera, AMD, Analog Devices, ARC International, ARM, esmertec, Fujitsu Microelectronics, Green Hills Software, Hellosoft, IAR, IBM Corporation, Imagination Technologies, Improv Systems, Infineon Technologies, Intel, Intrinsity, LSI Logic, Matsushita Electric Industrial, Mentor Graphics, Metaware, Metrowerks, MIPS Technologies Inc., Motorola, National Semiconductor, NEC Electronics America, Oki Semiconductor, ParthusCeva, Philips Semiconductors, PMC-Sierra, Precise, Red Hat, Renesas Technology, Samsung, Sandbridge Technologies, SandCraft, STMicroelectronics, StarCore, Sun Microsystems, SuperH, Symbian, Tao Group, Tensilica, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, VIA Technologies, Wind River Systems, and Xilinx.

EEMBC is a registered trademark of the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium. All other trademarks appearing herein are the property of their respective owners.

About Green Hills Software
 
Founded in 1982, Green Hills Software, Inc. is the technology leader for real-time operating systems and software development tools for 32- and 64-bit embedded systems. The royalty-free INTEGRITY RTOS, compilers, MULTI and AdaMULTI Integrated Development Environments and Green Hills Probe offer a complete development solution that addresses both deeply embedded and maximum reliability applications. Green Hills Software is headquartered in Santa Barbara, CA, with European headquarters in the United Kingdom.
 
Green Hills Software, the Green Hills' logo, MULTI and INTEGRITY are registered trademarks. AdaMULTI is a trademark of Green Hills Software, Inc. All other trademarks (registered or otherwise) are the property of their respective companies. Brand or product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.