BlueICe is an expert in overall system partitioning and SOC architecture.

BlueICe and our key team members have been working extensively in wired, wireless transceivers, generic and dedicated processor architectures. BlueICe invests in IP and knowledge specifically in the area of wireless transceivers, radar and image processing.

In this area BlueICe has a unique competence, knowledge in wireless systems, especially in Wireless LAN and Bluetooth.

We provide automated, randomized, C-based benches to thoroughly verify RTL and co-verify RTL with application software. We have experience with most commercial available tool chains.

In some of our projects we verified the complete RTL together with the complete embedded software and a model of the [analog] outside world. This allowed deep verification, further based on randomized benches, and allowed the software team to validate the software with the RTL based hardware very early in the project.

This contributes to reducing the bug load and hence the overall project cost and lead times are very significant.

BlueICe is an expert in processor based design. This is one area in which we want to innovate.

Over the last 2 years we built an ultralow power processor core [BLUSP] with significant calculation power capability.

With a partner we developed a software development tool chain. At present, we are using this IP as a core to derive ultralow power RADAR base band and ultralow power wireless basebands from it. The core is part of the IP offer.

More than half of the BlueICe team are embedded software developers, with a focus on software close to the hardware, heavily time constrained. Software has been developed on various platforms, ranging from BlueICe’s BluSP processor, ARM Cortex Mx architectures and on a number of Freescale architectures.

Embedded software development is offered as a separate service.

BlueICe is offering a [limited] number of IPs, all of them engineered for state of the art and beyond performance. Most of them driven by the focus on Wireless systems.

A short description on some of the IPs in the offer:

• The ultralow power processor core [BLUSP] with significant calculation power capability. With a partner we developed a software development tool chain.We are at present using this IP as a core to derive from it ultralow power RADAR base band and ultralow power wireless basebands.
• BLUE, a unique packet co-processing engine which presents a unique hardware/software architecture split for a packet processor. It is flexible, still can be manage the packet based linked nearly full autonomous for long periods of time, resulting in easier programming and extremely low power consumption.

Ultra low power is a common design goal in all BlueICe’s IP.

Our BLUSP architecture can run up to 800Mhz in 40nm, which conversely means at very low voltage it still has significant performance and ultra low power.

We are investing in research on an all digital PLL with IMEC-INTEC with as goal to cut PLL power for Radio and related systems by a factor >2 vs. best in class realizations.

We offer validation based on a hardware/software environment capable to run automated test scenarios. We do validation of a SOC or FPGA based implementation.

We have the competence to design, organize the production of validation boards if necessary in volume. We have the experience to design around this, PC based automated test scenario’s, allowing automatic validation, driving test equipment.

In our labs we have test equipment available that allows us to execute these measurements.

In the context of validation, we designed from scratch and adapted a number of FGPA databases. Most of them were used as test vehicles in the context of SOC development.

We are offering this as an independent service.