Xtensa Xplorer serves as a cockpit for basic design management, invocation of Tensilica processor configuration tools (Xtensa processor generator, TIE Compiler) and software development tools. Xtensa Xplorer is particularly useful for the development of TIE (Tensilica Instruction Extension) instructions – designer-defined instruction extensions to the Xtensa processor – that maximize performance for a particular application. Different Xtensa processor and TIE configurations can be saved, profiled against the target C/C++ software, and compared. Xtensa Xplorer even includes automated graphing tools that create spreadsheet-style comparison charts of performance.
Xtensa Xplorer dramatically accelerates the processor optimization cycle by providing an automated, visual means of profiling and comparing different processor configurations. Since it only takes an hour for the Xtensa Processor Generator to create a new, customized version once the designer configures the processor and creates the instruction extensions, customers will want to try many different options. Now designers will be able to conceive of and describe new options much faster using Xtensa Xplorer.
