TurboSPARC
Encyclopedia
The TurboSPARC is a microprocessor
that implements the SPARC V8
instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. (FMI), the United States subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited located in San Jose, California
. It was a low-end microprocessor primarily developed as an upgrade for the Sun Microsystems
microSPARC-II-based SPARCstation 5
workstation
. It was introduced on 30 September 1996, with a 170 MHz version priced at US$499 in quantities of 1,000. The TurboSPARC was mostly succeeded in the low-end SPARC market by the UltraSPARC IIi
in late 1997, but remained available.
Users of the TurboSPARC were Force Computers, Fujitsu
, RDI Computer, Opus Systems, Tadpole Technologies
, Tatung Science and Technology and Themis Computers. Fujitsu used a 160 MHz version in a SPARCstation 5
upgrade kit, whereas the other companies used the 170 MHz version in workstation, notebook and embedded computers.
The performance of the 170 MHz TurboSPARC was similar to that of a 120 MHz Intel Pentium, but when compared to a 110 MHz microSPARC-II, it had two times the integer performance and one and a half times the floating-point performance.
Memory access occurs during stage four. The TurboSPARC has a 16 KB data cache. The cache is direct-mapped and uses a write back write policy. If there is a data cache hit, data is returned in the same cycle, and checked for errors during stage five. Integer results and loads are written to the register file during stage six. Floating-point instructions, which take more cycles are completed by stage seven and written to the floating-point register file during stage eight.
The TurboSPARC had an integrated controllers for the L2 cache, memory, AFX interface and SBus interface. A 256 KB, 512 KB or 1 MB external L2 cache was supported. The cache operated at half or one-third the internal clock frequency: 85 or 56.67 MHz respectively at 170 MHz. It was direct-mapped, had a 32-byte line size and used a write-through write policy. It was parity protected. The cache was built from 12 ns pipelined burst static random access memory (PBSRAM). Memory controller supported 8 to 256 MB of fast page mode (FPM) DRAM in eight banks. The L2 cache and memory were accessed using the system bus, a 72-bit wide bus, of which 64 bits were for data.
The AFX interface enabled AFX graphics cards to directly access the memory. It shares the same data bus with the cache and memory controllers but used it own control lines. The SBus controller had its own 16-entry input/output translation lookaside buffer. TurboSPARC supported SBus
frequencys of 16.67 to 25 MHz. The TurboSPARC was not multiprocessor-capable.
The TurboSPARC contained 3.0 million transistors and measured 11.5 by 11.5 mm for a die area of 132.25 mm2. It was fabricated by Fujitsu in their CS-60ALE process, a 0.35 µm four-level metal complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process. The TurboSPARC was packaged in a 416-ball plastic ball grid array
(PBGA). It used a 3.3 V power supply and had a 9 W maximum power dissipation.
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 Fujitsu Microelectronics, Inc. (FMI), the United States subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited located in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. It was a low-end microprocessor primarily developed as an upgrade for the 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...
microSPARC-II-based SPARCstation 5
SPARCstation 5
SPARCstation 5 or SS5 is a workstation sold by Sun Microsystems. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a pizza-box chassis. A simplified, cheaper version of the SS5 was later released as the SPARCstation 4...
workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
. It was introduced on 30 September 1996, with a 170 MHz version priced at US$499 in quantities of 1,000. The TurboSPARC was mostly succeeded in the low-end SPARC market by the UltraSPARC IIi
UltraSPARC III
The UltraSPARC III, code-named "Cheetah", is a microprocessor that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and fabricated by Texas Instruments. It was introduced in 2001 and operated at 600 to 900 MHz. It was succeeded by the UltraSPARC IV in 2004...
in late 1997, but remained available.
Users of the TurboSPARC were Force Computers, Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
, RDI Computer, Opus Systems, Tadpole Technologies
Tadpole Computer
Tadpole Computer is a manufacturer of rugged UNIX workstations and thin client laptops and lightweight servers. Tadpole is based in Cupertino, California.- Products :...
, Tatung Science and Technology and Themis Computers. Fujitsu used a 160 MHz version in a SPARCstation 5
SPARCstation 5
SPARCstation 5 or SS5 is a workstation sold by Sun Microsystems. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a pizza-box chassis. A simplified, cheaper version of the SS5 was later released as the SPARCstation 4...
upgrade kit, whereas the other companies used the 170 MHz version in workstation, notebook and embedded computers.
The performance of the 170 MHz TurboSPARC was similar to that of a 120 MHz Intel Pentium, but when compared to a 110 MHz microSPARC-II, it had two times the integer performance and one and a half times the floating-point performance.
Description
The TurboSPARC was a simple scalar in-order design. During the fetch stage, two instructions were fetched from a 16 KB direct-mapped instruction cache. During the decode stage, one instruction was decoded, and its operands read from its register file. Execution began in stage three. The TurboSPARC had an integer unit and a floating-point unit. Most integer arithmetic instructions except for multiply and divide have a single-cycle latency. Multiply and divide was executed by the FPU. Multiply had a seven cycle latency while divide had an 8- to 33-cycle latency. Most floating-point arithmetic instructions except for divide and square-root had a four-cycle latency.Memory access occurs during stage four. The TurboSPARC has a 16 KB data cache. The cache is direct-mapped and uses a write back write policy. If there is a data cache hit, data is returned in the same cycle, and checked for errors during stage five. Integer results and loads are written to the register file during stage six. Floating-point instructions, which take more cycles are completed by stage seven and written to the floating-point register file during stage eight.
The TurboSPARC had an integrated controllers for the L2 cache, memory, AFX interface and SBus interface. A 256 KB, 512 KB or 1 MB external L2 cache was supported. The cache operated at half or one-third the internal clock frequency: 85 or 56.67 MHz respectively at 170 MHz. It was direct-mapped, had a 32-byte line size and used a write-through write policy. It was parity protected. The cache was built from 12 ns pipelined burst static random access memory (PBSRAM). Memory controller supported 8 to 256 MB of fast page mode (FPM) DRAM in eight banks. The L2 cache and memory were accessed using the system bus, a 72-bit wide bus, of which 64 bits were for data.
The AFX interface enabled AFX graphics cards to directly access the memory. It shares the same data bus with the cache and memory controllers but used it own control lines. The SBus controller had its own 16-entry input/output translation lookaside buffer. TurboSPARC supported SBus
SBus
SBus is a computer bus system that was used in most SPARC-based computers from Sun Microsystems and others during the 1990s...
frequencys of 16.67 to 25 MHz. The TurboSPARC was not multiprocessor-capable.
The TurboSPARC contained 3.0 million transistors and measured 11.5 by 11.5 mm for a die area of 132.25 mm2. It was fabricated by Fujitsu in their CS-60ALE process, a 0.35 µm four-level metal complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) process. The TurboSPARC was packaged in a 416-ball plastic ball grid array
Ball grid array
A ball grid array is a type of surface-mount packaging used for integrated circuits.- Description :The BGA is descended from the pin grid array , which is a package with one face covered with pins in a grid pattern. These pins conduct electrical signals from the integrated circuit to the printed...
(PBGA). It used a 3.3 V power supply and had a 9 W maximum power dissipation.