SuperSPARC
Encyclopedia
The SuperSPARC is a microprocessor
that implements the SPARC V8
instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Sun Microsystems
. 33 and 40 MHz versions were introduced in 1992. The SuperSPARC contained 3.1 million transistors. It was fabricated by Texas Instruments
(TI) at Miho, Japan in a 0.8 micrometre BiCMOS
process. There were two derivatives of the SuperSPARC: the SuperSPARC+ and SuperSPARC-II. The SuperSPARC+ was developed to remedy some of the design flaws that limited the SuperSPARC's clock frequency and thus performance. The SuperSPARC-II, introduced in 1994, was a major revision with improvements that enabled the microprocessor to reach 80 MHz in desktop systems and 90 MHz in the more heavily-cooled SPARCserver-1000E. The SuperSPARC-II was replaced in 1995 by the 64-bit UltraSPARC
, an implementation of the 64-bit
SPARC V9
ISA.
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
that implements the SPARC V8
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. 33 and 40 MHz versions were introduced in 1992. The SuperSPARC contained 3.1 million transistors. It was fabricated by Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
(TI) at Miho, Japan in a 0.8 micrometre BiCMOS
BiCMOS
BiCMOS is an evolved semiconductor technology that integrates two formerly separate semiconductor technologies - those of the analog bipolar junction transistor and the digital CMOS transistor - in a single integrated circuit device....
process. There were two derivatives of the SuperSPARC: the SuperSPARC+ and SuperSPARC-II. The SuperSPARC+ was developed to remedy some of the design flaws that limited the SuperSPARC's clock frequency and thus performance. The SuperSPARC-II, introduced in 1994, was a major revision with improvements that enabled the microprocessor to reach 80 MHz in desktop systems and 90 MHz in the more heavily-cooled SPARCserver-1000E. The SuperSPARC-II was replaced in 1995 by the 64-bit UltraSPARC
UltraSPARC
The UltraSPARC is a microprocessor developed by Sun Microsystems who is now a part of Oracle Corporation and fabricated by Texas Instruments that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture . It was introduced in mid-1995. It was the first microprocessor from Sun Microsystems to implement...
, an implementation of the 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
SPARC V9
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
ISA.
| Name (codename) | Model | Frequency (MHz) | Arch. version | Year | Total threads | Process (µm) | Transistors (millions) | Die size (mm²) | IO Pins | Power (W) | Voltage (V) | L1 Dcache (k) | L1 Icache (k) | L2 Cache (k) | L3 Cache (k) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SuperSPARC I (Viking) | TI TMX390Z50 / Sun STP1020 | 33–60 | V8 | 1992 | 1×1=1 | 0.8 | 3.1 | ||||||||
| 293 | 14.3 | 5 | 16 | 20 | 0-2048 | none | |||||||||
| SuperSPARC II (Voyager) | Sun STP1021 | 75–90 | V8 | 1994 | 1×1=1 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 299 | |||||||
| 16 | |||||||||||||||
| 16 | 20 | 1024-2048 | none |