StarCore DSP FAQs

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• How can I distinguish between various MSC8154/MSC8156 devices?
• My configuration sets up the L2 unified cache/M2 memory to 256KB of M2 and 256 KB of L2 cache. Does ...
• Does an M3 ECC event trigger an interrupt?
• The L2 cache features 4 L2 software prefetch channels. Are there 4 software prefetch channels per co...
• Do I need an I2C serial EEPROM for loading of the Reset Configuration Word (RCW)?
• How does MSC8156 MAPLE-B TVPE support Viterbi and Turbo decoding?
• I want to use the Debug and Profiling Unit (DPU) in the MSC8156 to log information into the virtual...
• I only need to reset an individual core in the MSC8156. How can I do that?
• The MSC8156 Reference Manual shows the default DDR1 and DDR2 memory address spaces are 512 MB. How d...
• What is the maximum heat sink attachment force to avoid damaging the solder balls?
• What does the NO_INC bit indicate in the DMA buffer descriptor BD_ATTR field? When would you use thi...
• If a MSC8156 DMA port A or B bus error happens, i.e., DMAERR[PAE] or DMAERR[PBE] bit is set, can I c...
• If a DMA BD size 0 error occurs, i.e., DMAERR[BDSZ] is set, to indicate that the buffer descriptor f...

How can I distinguish between various MSC8154/MSC8156 devices?

You can read the System Part and Revision ID Register (SPRIDR) from address  to get the part ID and revision ID numbers.

Device             SPRIDR[PARTID]

MSC8154                0x8304

MSC8154EC           0x831C

MSC8154E             0x830C

MSC8156               0x8302

MSC8156EC           0x831A

MSC8156E             0x830A

Revision           SPRIDR[REVID]

Rev. 1                       0x0000

Rev. 2                       0x0001

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My configuration sets up the L2 unified cache/M2 memory to 256KB of M2 and 256 KB of L2 cache.  Does this mean L2 cache is 8 ways of 32 KB each?

No. The L2/M2 is 512 KB, arranged in 8 ways of 64 KB each way. In your configuration, the L2 cache becomes 4 ways. Each way is still 64 KB.

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Does an M3 ECC event trigger an interrupt?

M3 memory is ECC-protected so a single-bit error is detected and corrected, therefore an interrupt is not necessary.

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The L2 cache features 4 L2 software prefetch channels.  Are there 4 software prefetch channels per core or is this the total number per device?

The L2 cache is private for each core, therefore the 4 software prefetch channels are per core. Each core configures its own set of L2 software prefetch registers. Each core can only configure its own L2. The L2 software prefetch registers cannot be configured externally from the DSP subsystem.

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Do I need an I2C serial EEPROM for loading of the Reset Configuration Word (RCW)?

No, there are other options for loading of the RCW besides the I2C serial EEPROM.

• Multiplexed RCW loading option(RCW_SRC[0:2]=000) - all 64-bits of the RCW are loaded in four passes using the external pins RC[15:0]  using the /RCW_LSEL[0:3] pins as lane select signals.

• Reduced RCW loading option (RCW_SRC[0:2]=011) - some bits of the RCW are latched from external pins and some bits are loaded from default hard-coded values.

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How does MSC8156 MAPLE-B TVPE support Viterbi and Turbo decoding?

Turbo and Viterbi decoding are supported by MSC8156 MAPLE-B TVPE in same µcode. You can initialize the Maple with one TVPE standard, plus some Viterbi parameters. Then you can use different Buffer Descriptors for Turbo and Viterbi.

Note that MAPLE-B doesn't support multiple Turbo standards with the same µcode because Maple µcode is standard specific and a µcode re-load is required to switch from one standard to another. So supporting a mixture of users of different standard in real time cannot be done with current MAPLE-B.  Turbo and Viterbi decoding are supported in same µcode, since Viterbi decoding parameters are fully configurable and are not standard related.

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I want to use the Debug and Profiling Unit (DPU) in the MSC8156 to log information into the virtual trace buffer. I have set up the DPU registers for core 0. How do I set up the DPU for the other cores 1/2/3/4/5 since there is only one set of DPU registers?

Each DSP subsystem includes a DPU. Each core can access its own DPU registers using the same physical addresses.

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I only need to reset an individual core in the MSC8156. How can I do that?

All cores are reset together. There is not a method to reset a particular core in the MSC8156.

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The MSC8156 Reference Manual shows the default DDR1 and DDR2 memory address spaces are 512 MB. How do I change the memory space to 1 GB?

The MSC8156 Reference Manual shows the DDR address spaces as follows:

• 0x40000000–0x5FFFFFFF      DDR1 Memory (default value)                                               512 M
• 0x60000000–0x7FFFFFFF      Reserved.  Used for DDR1 memory if configured for 1 GB.      512 M
• 0x80000000–0x9FFFFFFF      DDR2 Memory (default value)                                               512 M
• 0xA0000000–0xBFFFFFFF     Reserved. Used for DDR2 memory if configured for 1 GB.       512 M

After reset, the default DDR1 and DDR2 memory space is 512 MB. To increase to 1GB DDR memory range, you need to configure the CLASS registers as follows:

• For DDR1 memory controller, change C0EAD5 from the reset value of 0x0005FFFF to 0x0007FFFF

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What is the maximum heat sink attachment force to avoid damaging the solder balls?

Detailed information about the Flip-Chip Plastic Ball Grid Array (FC-PBGA) package type devices (MSC8144 and MSC8156) can be found in this document FC-PBGAPRES.pdf

The maximum heat sink attachment force is 4 Newtons (10 lb force).

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What does the NO_INC bit indicate in the DMA buffer descriptor BD_ATTR field? When would you use this?

You can set NO_INC if you want to transfer to or from the same address. The address will not be incremented. For example, if you want to fill memory with data from a single memory location, you will need to set NO_INC for the source. However, the destination will have the NO_INC bit cleared.

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If a MSC8156 DMA port A or B bus error happens, i.e., DMAERR[PAE] or DMAERR[PBE] bit is set, can I clear these bits and continue with the DMA operation?

A port error will freeze the DMA channel so clearing the error bit has no effect. In this case, the DMA channel needs to be reinitialized before it can be used again.

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If a DMA BD size 0 error occurs, i.e., DMAERR[BDSZ] is set, to indicate that the buffer descriptor field BD_SIZE is cleared, how can I tell which DMA channel is associated with the error?

The DMAERR register does not indicate which channel accessed the BD with size 0. However, you can check the DMACHCRx registers to determine which channel did not finish the transfer by checking if the active ACT bit is high. A channel that does not encounter the error will finish (ACT bit gets cleared).

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