The Power of Programmable State Machines STAR tiles, based on PSMs, offer the flexibility of software and the performance of hardware, and can be fine-tuned to efficiently handle multiple protocols. Having several STAR tiles on a chip, with programmable firmware, increases the flexibility to change, debug, and upgrade a product anytime after the silicon is built. Complete systems can support multiple ports, variable functions, and myriad speeds using STARs, and additional ones can be connected to the internal chip bus for system redundancy. Extending the concept further, specific hardware can be added as a special block to these machines to meet high-performance requirements. It also gives ASIC designers unheard-of flexibility in their design approach.
Engineers working with PSMs can modify their designs at any time before committing to a foundry.
They can also upgrade firmware in the field. This is especially important when equipment is being optimized for standards that are still in a state of flux. The modular packaging of the STAR Packet and Protocol Processor is a valuable piece of IP for design reuse. It greatly reduces design and verification time, and can be reused with minor changes or upgrades to the firmware. Combining STAR tiles with cores from Stargate's CoreNet networking library, designers can create products for the entire range of networking solutions, from servers and switches to carrier backbones.