The Future of ASSPs: Leveraging Standards for Market-Focused Applications

Several converging technology trends and market factors are leading to the increased use of the Application Specific Standard Processor (ASSP) for a widening range of applications. Ever-increasing performance demands in networked communications, data storage, and other arenas require that next generation embedded processors deliver increased processing performance. At the same time, the growing role of industry-standard bus and network interfaces make it less attractive to design and maintain the single-purpose Application Specific IC (ASIC) as the cost of tooling and mask development continues to increase.