The VR5400 is a family of 64-bit RISC processors that target embedded systems applications. Featuring a dual-issue superscalar architecture, integrated floating-point, and a 32x32 multiply-accumulate unit, the VR5400 delivers a peak performance of 519 Dhrystone MIPS (for the VR5464 processor running at 250 Mhz) and consumes only 2.5 to 4.4 watts. The VR5400 family also features a 64-bit data bus, 64 kbytes of on-chip cache, multimedia extensions, and an N-Wire on-chip debugging port.

"The VR5400 family of processors pack a lot of processing punch at an attractive price," said Green Hills president Dan O'Dowd. "Embedded systems designers working on compute- and multimedia-intensive projects with tight power and cost constraints should find the VR5464 processor's 519- MIPS performance, sub-5W power consumption, and price tag very appealing."

Added Ed Forbes, NEC VR Series senior marketing manager for tools development, "We're pleased to see Green Hills continue its aggressive support for NEC's VR Series of processors. With a comprehensive system solution approach that includes a complete suite of tools, Green Hills and NEC are enabling designers to maximize their design cycle for faster market turn-around of products."

Green Hills' MULTI environment and optimizing compilers automate every aspect of VR5400 software development, including editing, source-level debugging, program building, execution profiling, and project/version control. Moreover, the MULTI Development Environment and Green Hills compilers provide a uniform set of C, C++ and assembly language development capabilities that span Windows 95, Windows NT, and Unix host platforms.

MULTI's program builder, editor, and debugger are tightly integrated to offer quick, convenient single- and double-click transfers between debug mode and full source editing. For example, simply clicking on a compiler error message brings the user to the editor, opens the file containing the error, moves the cursor to the line containing the error, and highlights the error.

Green Hills' scaleable C/C++ compiler lets programmers use switch options to select any subset of C++ they want, from bare bones C, to full-blown ANSI/ISO C++. The compiler also supports a new dialect of C++ known as Embedded C++ (EC++). Optimized for resource-constrained embedded applications, EC++ achieves the efficiency of C while preserving many of the best object-oriented features of C++.

Code that has been compiled for the VR5400 can run on the target hardware in a bare bones mode, under Wind River Systems' VxWorks operating system, under custom real-time operating systems, under a variety of processor-specific in-circuit emulators (ICEs), and on targets that support on-chip debugging facilities.

For sales information on Green Hills Software's products, please call 1-805-965-6044 or email inquiries to sales@ghs.com.