The SecretBlaze: A Configurable and Cost-Effective Open-Source Soft-Core Processor

Abstract

Owing to the flexibility they offer, soft-core processors are becoming an attractive alternative for embedded system designs. Through the use of reconfigurable computing devices, such flexibility provides designers the opportunity to quickly uncover best design trade-offs and to achieve specific application goals. The present work introduces the Secret Blaze, a highly configurable and open-source RISC soft-core processor. Details about its modular approach that aims to strike the balance between the design quality and the efficiency of the data path are particularly discussed. Synthesis and performance results also demonstrates that the Secret Blaze is a very promising processor.