Zynq UltraScale + MPSoC
A multiprocessor system on chip combines several processors with programmable logic, so hardware and software are designed together to meet real-time constraints.
What is an MPSoC?
A multiprocessor system on chip (MPSoC) is a system on chip (SoC) that carries several microprocessors rather than one.
Because an MPSoC is multi-processor, software design inherits an essential part of the overall design of the chip: hardware and software are combined to solve the problem together. Code that used to be written around hardware constraints — hard scheduling deadlines, energy consumption — can now be resolved at the hardware level instead.
MPSoC systems can contain a range of processors, and those processors typically work heterogeneously, as does the way the system works with memory and with media. These systems often call for large amounts of memory, so memory may sit outside the chip with the system relying on it.
Combining hardware with software is what makes MPSoC-based product development interesting and challenging in equal measure. The significant advantage of these systems is the processing capability they provide to support real-time events.
Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC
The Zynq UltraScale+ family splits into three variants. They share a processing system and programmable logic, and differ in how much graphics and video capability sits alongside them.
Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC CG
A dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 application processing unit alongside a dual-core Cortex-R5 real-time unit, with no GPU block. This is the variant to reach for when the workload is control and real-time processing rather than graphics.
Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC EG
A quad-core Cortex-A53 and a dual-core Cortex-R5, with an Arm Mali-400 MP2 graphics processing unit. Its programmable logic adds Interlaken, GTY transceivers and a 100G EMAC to the high-speed connectivity available on the CG.
Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC EV
The EG feature set with a dedicated H.264 and H.265 video codec added to the programmable logic — the variant for products that encode or decode video on the device itself.
