QorIQ Communications Platforms
P3 Series
P3041 optimized quad-core processor
Overview
The QorIQ P3041 processor is an optimized, quad-core device that leverages architectural features
pioneered in the P4 platform. Built on Power Architecture® technology, the P3041 fits into many of
the same applications as the P4 platform processors, yet is designed to offer a more power- and
cost-efficient solution.
The P3041 includes P4 platform features such as the three-level cache hierarchy for low latencies,
hardware hypervisor for robust virtualization support, data path acceleration architecture (DPAA)
for offloading packet handling tasks from the core and the CoreNet switch fabric which eliminates
internal bottlenecks. This enables architectural compatibility from the P3041 to the P4 platform and
also to the P5 platform, which uses the same architecture.
The P3041 processor uses the same 37.5 mm
x 37.5 mm 1295-pin package as the P4 and P5
processors, resulting in pin-compatibility across
a broad range of performance levels. Between
the architectural similarity and the pin-compatible
package, developers can leverage the same
software and printed circuit board (PCB) across
many applications with a variety of requirements:
• Low-power, mid-range mixed control and
data plane (P3 platform)
• High-performance data path performance
(P4 platform)
• High-performance control plane application
(P5 platform)
P3041
Block Diagram
QorIQ P3041 Block Diagram
128 KB
Backside
L2 Cache
Power Architecture®
e500-mc 1.5 GHz Core
32 KB
D Cache
1024 KB
Frontside CoreNet
Platform Cache
32 KB
I Cache
64-bit
DDR3/3L
Memory Controller
eOpenPIC
PreBoot Loader
CoreNet Coherency Fabric
Security Monitor
Frame Manager
Clocks/Reset
1 GE 1 GE
10 GE 1 GE 1 GE
GPIO
18-Lane 5 GHz SerDes
CCSR
Core Complex (CPU, L2 and Frontside CoreNet Platform Cache)
Accelerators and Memory Control
Networking Elements
Basic Peripherals and Interconnect
SATA 2.0
Buffer
1 GE
Real-Time Debug
DMA x2
SATA 2.0
Pattern
Serial
Matching
Buffer
RapidIO®
Engine
Manager
Mgr.
2.1
Parse, Classify,
Distribute
Serial RapidIO
4x I2C
2x USB 2.0 PHY
Queue
Manager
Serial RapidIO®
2x DUART
Security
4.2
PCI Express
SPI
eLBC
PCI Express
SD/MMC
PCI Express®
Power Mgmt
PCI Express
Internal BootROM
Watchpoint
Cross
Trigger
Perf.
Trace
Monitor
Aurora
Key Architectural Features
Target Applications
CoreNet switch fabric
• Three-level cache hierarchy: The low-latency
32 KB L1 instruction and data caches are
augmented by a unified 128 KB private
backside L2 cache per core. The L2 is
8-way set associative and is ECC protected.
When instructions are locked in the L2,
the per-packet “hot” code is always readily
available, improving application performance.
A shared 1 MB CoreNet platform cache (L3)
facilitates core-to-core communications and
minimizes accesses to main memory.
The P3 family is targeted at mixed control plane
and data plane applications, where in previous
generations separate devices would implement
each function. Typically, one or two cores would
implement the control plane, while the remaining
cores implement the data plane. The hardware
hypervisor facilitates this, with its capability to
safely provision flexible core allocations into
groups running SMP, one core running alone,
separate cores running in parallel or a core
running end-user applications. There are many
applications that look similar to this, including:
• 1 MB shared CoreNet platform cache (L3)
with ECC
• Hardware hypervisor: The e500mc supports
a hardware hypervisor that is designed to
enable each core to run its own operating
system completely independent of the other
core. The hypervisor facilitates resource
sharing and partitioning in a multicore
environment, and provides protection in
the event that a core, driven by malicious
or improperly programmed code, tries to
access memory does not have permission to
read or write. It also allows the sharing and
partitioning of various I/Os across the cores
and it helps ensure that incoming memory
mapped transactions are written only into
appropriate ranges of the memory map.
• DPAA: This offloads the cores from the
need to perform common packet-handling
tasks. For instance, the DPAA will extract
headers from incoming packets, police
them, classify them and manage their data
buffers. The work is assigned to cores
with a three-level scheduling hierarchy,
which can also facilitate sharing of packet
workload over multiple cores.
• CoreNet switch fabric: The fabric-based
interface provides scalable on-chip, pointto-point connectivity supporting concurrent
traffic to and from multiple resources
connected to the fabric, eliminating singlepoint bottlenecks for non-competing
resources. This is designed to eliminate bus
contention and latency issues associated
with scaling shared bus architectures that
are common in other multicore approaches.
• Integrated access router (IAD).
Dual SATA ports provide high-speed,
cost-effective storage options for statistics
or large databases. Compared to SGMII,
2.5 Gb/s Ethernet enables the next step in
performance connectivity to switches.
• Base station network interface card (NIC):
Dual Serial RapidIO ports (up to 5 GHz)
can be used for redundancy or multiple
connections, both to the backplane or
to the DSP farm. With improved Type 11
messaging and new support for Type 9 data
streaming, the Serial RapidIO interconnect
can now be used not only as a control plane
interface, but can also achieve its intended
potential as a highly efficient data path.
Ethernet
• 5 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet controllers
• 1 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet controllers
• All with classification, hardware queueing,
policing, buffer management, checksum
offload, QoS, lossless flow control,
IEEE® 1588
• Up to 1 x XAUI, 4 x SGMII or 2.5 Gbps
SGMII, 2 x RGMII
Data path acceleration
• SEC 4.2: public key accelerator, DES,
AES, message digest accelerator, random
number generator, ARC4, SNOW 3G F8
and F9, CRC, Kasumi
• PME 2.1: searches for 128 byte text strings
in 32 KB patterns in 128 M sessions
• RapidIO messaging: Type 9 and 11
Device
• 45 nm SOI process technology
• 1295-pin FCPBGA package, 37.5 mm x
37.5 mm
Features
Enablement
Four e500mc cores, built on Power
Architecture technology
• Enea®: Real-time operating system support
• Up to 1.5 GHz
• Each with 128 KB backside L2 cache
Memory controller
• DDR3, 3L up to 1.3 GHz
• 32/64-bit data bus w/ECC
High-speed interconnects
• 18 x 5 GHz SerDes lanes
• 4 x PCI Express® 2.0 controllers at 5 GHz
• 2 x Serial RapidIO 1.3/2.1 controllers at 5 GHz
• Green Hills®: Complete portfolio of software
and hardware development tools, trace
tools and real-time operating systems
• Mentor Graphics®: Commercial grade
Linux® solution
• CodeSourcery: Tool chain support for new
core technology
• Wind River®: Simics® model
• Development System: Four PCI Express
slots, one Serial RapidIO slot, one XAUI
slot, one SGMII slot, SATA disk, Aurora
debug port
• 2 x SATA 2.0 at 3 Gbps
• 2 x USB 2.0 with PHY
For more information, please visit freescale.com/QorIQ
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and QorIQ are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their
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Document Number: QP3041FS REV 3