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ARM250 - Microarchitectures - ARM
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ARM250 µarch
General Info
Arch TypeCPU
DesignerARM Holdings
ManufacturerVLSI Technology
Introduction1992
Process1 µm
Core Configs1
Pipeline
TypeScalar, Pipelined
Stages3
Decode1-way
Instructions
ISAARMv2a
Cores
Core NamesARM250
Succession

ARM250 was a system on a chip microarchitecture that was introduced by ARM Holdings around the same time the ARM6 was introduced.

History[edit]

See also: ARM's History

With the development of the ARM6 and a process shrink by VTI, ARM took the opportunity to introduce the ARM250. The ARM250 is a very high integration chip - incorporating the ARM3 core along with most of the new MMU logic that was developed for the ARM6 along with all the support chips that were previously needed for the ARM3/2 - the MEMC chip (Memory Controller), VIDC chip (Video Controller), IOC/IOEB (I/O Controller).

Note that the added L1 cache found on the ARM3 is not found on the ARM250.

Process Technology[edit]

See also: 1 µm process

The ARM250 was implemented on a 1 µm double-level metal (DLM) CMOS process.

Architecture[edit]

The ARM250 doesn't introduce anything new in itself. The core is an ARM3 with the MMU logic taken from the ARM6 which was also released around the same time.

Key changes from ARM3[edit]

  • Integrates support chips on-die
    • Integrated MEMC
    • Integrated VIDC
    • Integrated IOEB/IOC
  • Virtual memory

Block Diagram[edit]

Entire Chip[edit]

arm250 block diagram.svg

Core[edit]

(ARM3 core)
arm2 block diagram.svg

Die[edit]

  • 1-micron process CMOS
  • 2 metal layers
  • 58 mm² die size
  • 98,019 transistors
  • $25 (for 100K quantities)
  • PJQFP-160

References[edit]

  • Muller, Mike. "ARM6: a high performance low power consumption macrocell." Compcon Spring'93, Digest of Papers.. IEEE, 1993.

Documents[edit]

codenameARM250 +
core count1 +
designerARM Holdings +
first launched1992 +
full page namearm holdings/microarchitectures/arm250 +
instance ofmicroarchitecture +
instruction set architectureARMv2a +
manufacturerVLSI Technology +
microarchitecture typeCPU +
nameARM250 +
pipeline stages3 +
process1,000 nm (1 μm, 0.001 mm) +