Q: What is the Control Law Accelerator (CLA) on the F2803x?
A: F2803x’s revolutionary Control Law Accelerator(CLA) is an independent, 32-bit floating-point math accelerator that runs in parallel with the C28x core. The CLA can perform low level control loops (32-bit accurate) with much higher cycle efficiency, thus offloading the CPU and significantly enhancing the overall device performance. The CLA has direct access to peripherals such as the ADC and PWMs, resulting in the same fast system response time.
Q: Is it really independent?
A: Yes, after being initialized by CPU the CLA can operate completely independently . In fact, the main CPU can be halted and the CLA will still continue to run. Because it is tied directly to the ADC and PWM peripherals, the CLA needs no input from the CPU to run control algorithms and control a system.
Q: Does it have interrupts like the CPU?
A: Yes, the CLA has up to 8 interrupts.
Q: Can the CLA execute floating point operations?
A: Yes, the CLA implements a subset of the IEEE floating point standard and supports full floating point operation.
Q: How is the CLA programmed?
A: The CLA is programmed in assembly using a special CLA instruction set. The CLA instructions are very similar to the C28x instructcions.
Q: Are there plans for a C compiler?
A: TI is looking into various options for programming the CLA. At this time we do not expect to have a C compiler for the CLA, as it lacks much of the hardware neccessary for a C compiler.
Q: Since the CLA is an independent core, how is memory arbitration handled?
A: There is a special section of RAM that the C28x CPU can set to be CLA data and program memory. Once it has been set to CLA memory the CPU core cannot modify the CLA data or program memory. There is a "message RAM" section to pass data between the CPU and the CLA.
The CLA memory sizes are as follows:
- Program: 8Kbytes
- Data: 4Kbytes
- Message:256bytes
Q: Is the CLA available on the F2802x Piccolo series?
A: No, the CLA is only available on the F2803x Piccolo series.
Q: Where can I find more information on the CLA?
A: Visit www.ti.com/piccolo for more information on the CLA.
There is also a more detailed FAQ available at http://tiexpressdsp.com/index.php?title=Category:C2000
Please feel free to ask any FAQ type questions you may have on the CLA and I will add them to the FAQ.