PWRficient is a microprocessor series by P.A. Semi where the PA6T-1682M was the only one that became an actual product. PWRficient processors comply with the 64-bit Power ISA, and are designed for high performance and extreme power efficiency. The processors are highly modular and can be combined to multi-core system-on-a-chip (SoC) designs, combining CPU, northbridge, and southbridge functionality on a single processor die.

Details

The PA6T is the first and only processor core from P.A. Semi, in two distinct product lines: 16xxM dual core and 13xxM/E single core. The PA6T lines differed in L2 cache size, memory controllers, communication functionality, and cryptography offloading features. P.A. Semi planned up to 16 cores. The PA6T is the first Power ISA core designed from scratch in the previous ten years outside the AIM alliance, which included IBM, Motorola, Freescale, and Apple Inc. Since Texas Instruments was an investors in P.A. Semi, it was suggested that its fabrication plants would have manufactured the PWRficient processors. PWRficient processors were initially shipped to select customers in February 2007 and were released worldwide in Q4 2007. P.A. Semi was bought by Apple Inc. in April 2008, and closed development of PWRficient architecture processors. However, it will continue to manufacture, sell, and support these components for the foreseeable future due to an agreement with the US Government for some military applications. Some components of the P.A. Semi PWRficient were later integrated into Apple silicon.

Implementation

PWRficient processors comprise three parts:

CPU

PA6T

Memory system

CONEXIUM

I/O

ENVOI

Users