16 May 2008

Mistral Debuts First Solution On ARM Cortex-A8 Processor

Mistral, a member of the ARM Connected Community, has confirmed the availability of the ARM Cortex-A8 processor-based development platform, the OMAP35x evaluation module (EVM), to accelerate the development of power-optimized devices.

Mistral’s low cost and easy to use development platform is based on Texas Instruments’ OMAP devices which integrate an ARM Cortex-A8 processor. The OMAP35x EVM is an ideal software development and device prototyping platform for users to start immediate work on multimedia-based application device development, the company said.

The superscalar Cortex-A8 processor is the first ARM processor to incorporate all the new technologies available in the ARMv7 architecture. These include the ARM Thumb-2 technology for enhanced code density and performance, TrustZone technology for securing sensitive data and DRM, and NEON technology for multimedia and signal processing.
By coupling TI’s DSP technology with the superscalar 600MHz Cortex-A8 processor, the OMAP35x applications processors will enable a wide range of applications, including portable navigation devices, Internet appliances and portable patient monitoring devices that require robust digital signal processing and control capabilities.

“This is one of the first development boards available for the ARM Cortex-A8 processor. It will be instrumental in enabling designers building next generation power optimized portable devices. It will be a major boost for demanding consumer applications, which will stand to gain from the enhanced audio, video, networking and graphics processing capability while utilizing low battery power” said Samyeer Metrani, VP-Services (USA), Mistral Solutions. The Development Platform will support Linux and Windows Embedded OS”.

"The EVM offered by Mistral and TI’s decision to make Cortex-A8 processor-based ICs available to the broad market with the OMAP35x devices, are exciting moves that are opening many new areas of opportunity for ARM," said Eric Schorn, VP Marketing, Processor Division, ARM.

"The ARM Cortex-A8 processor and supporting technologies bring unprecedented levels of performance and energy efficiency to new markets such as home entertainment, portable media, navigation and other markets resulting in innovative new devices with media-rich applications coming to the consumer," added Schorn.