West Bridge
Encyclopedia
The West Bridge is a growing architectural approach, originally developed by Cypress Semiconductor
, which enhances and modularizes a peripheral controller in an embedded computer architecture. Conceptually, the West Bridge parallels and complements the decentralization represented by the North Bridge
and the South Bridge
. Most notably, it has been used by Research in Motion
to permit extremely high data transfer rates in its BlackBerry
devices.
, which designs products to provide optimal performance and connectivity in the embedded world. The name was chosen deliberately to be a meme consistent with the North Bridge and South Bridge concepts. "West Bridge" refers both to the architectural scheme in general and to the product family with which it was introduced, by Cypress.
An example of such an interface is NAND Flash, which keeps evolving with new generations of Multi-Level Cell NAND. A West Bridge device might handle the MLC NAND management and enable lowest-cost memory support for a main processor, which otherwise would only support NOR or Single-Level Cell NAND.
Some commonly supported interfaces of West Bridge companion chips are:
Common applications include:
Cypress Semiconductor
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation is a Silicon Valley-based semiconductor design and manufacturing company founded by T. J. Rodgers and others from Advanced Micro Devices. It was formed in 1982 with backing by Sevin Rosen and went public in 1986. The company initially focused on the design and...
, which enhances and modularizes a peripheral controller in an embedded computer architecture. Conceptually, the West Bridge parallels and complements the decentralization represented by the North Bridge
Northbridge (computing)
The northbridge has historically been one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a PC motherboard, the other being the southbridge. Increasingly these functions have migrated to the CPU chip itself, beginning with memory and graphics controllers. For Intel Sandy Bridge and AMD Fusion...
and the South Bridge
Southbridge (computing)
The southbridge is one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a personal computer motherboard, the other being the northbridge. The southbridge typically implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture. In Intel chipset...
. Most notably, it has been used by Research in Motion
Research In Motion
Research In Motion Limited or RIM is a Canadian multinational telecommunications company headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada that designs, manufactures and markets wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market...
to permit extremely high data transfer rates in its BlackBerry
BlackBerry
BlackBerry is a line of mobile email and smartphone devices developed and designed by Canadian company Research In Motion since 1999.BlackBerry devices are smartphones, designed to function as personal digital assistants, portable media players, internet browsers, gaming devices, and much more...
devices.
Overview
While the North Bridge focuses on memory control and the South Bridge focuses on "slower" capabilities of the motherboard, the West Bridge focuses on peripheral control. The new architectural modularization opens the potential for increased system performance. Being directly connected, peripheral control can be handled wholly and independently through a West Bridge's controller, leaving a processor offloaded and free to focus on other data intensive operations. Not only in increasing performance of the system via the processor, a West Bridge companion chip may itself serve directly as a peripheral accelerator.Etymology
The term West Bridge was first introduced by Cypress SemiconductorCypress Semiconductor
Cypress Semiconductor Corporation is a Silicon Valley-based semiconductor design and manufacturing company founded by T. J. Rodgers and others from Advanced Micro Devices. It was formed in 1982 with backing by Sevin Rosen and went public in 1986. The company initially focused on the design and...
, which designs products to provide optimal performance and connectivity in the embedded world. The name was chosen deliberately to be a meme consistent with the North Bridge and South Bridge concepts. "West Bridge" refers both to the architectural scheme in general and to the product family with which it was introduced, by Cypress.
Interface Support
Interfaces change all the time towards faster, lower power, fewer pins, and newer standards, making it a difficult task for processors to follow and integrate them. A prime function of West Bridge devices is to enable connection to these varied interfaces.An example of such an interface is NAND Flash, which keeps evolving with new generations of Multi-Level Cell NAND. A West Bridge device might handle the MLC NAND management and enable lowest-cost memory support for a main processor, which otherwise would only support NOR or Single-Level Cell NAND.
Some commonly supported interfaces of West Bridge companion chips are:
- Mass storage
- GPIO
- MMC+
- SD v1.1
- SD v2.0
- SDIO
- CE-ATA
- MLC NAND
- SLC NAND
- Full NAND Management
- Processor
- SRAM
- SPI
- ADMUX
- NAND
- NOR
- USB
- USB 2.0 at 480 Mbit/s
Applications
The West Bridge architecture is relevant to a broad range of applications.Common applications include:
- Handsets
- Portable Media Players
- Personal Digital Assistants
- Portable Navigation Devices
- Digital Cameras
- Printers
- Point-of-sale terminals
- Set-Top Boxes
- Security Dongles