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"To serve computing's ever changing demands, microprocessors must take the most complex data and display it in a way that is visually compelling and interactive," said Ron Bernal, president of MIPS Technologies. "Because of our close partnership with Silicon Graphics, MIPS has applied its intimate understanding of visual computing to the R5000 microprocessor. Through its optimized performance, the R5000 processor will efficiently power diverse desktop and multiprocessing server applications such as database visualization, Internet content creation, CAD and other critical applications."
The R5000 microprocessor accelerates single-precision floating-point operations used in 2D and 3D graphics calculations, and is capable of achieving a peak of 400 million floating-point operations per second (MFLOPS). The R5000 design will provide a high level of 3D geometry processing for applications such as OpenGL and Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) for the World Wide Web. Studies show that the R5000 architecture, with the MIPS IV instruction set and superscalar pipeline, can execute geometry processing routines 2.3 times faster than Intel's 200 MHz Pentium Pro and over seven times faster than the 133 MHz Pentium processor.
The R5000 microprocessor, fully binary compatible with existing MIPS software, is based on the MIPS IV instruction set, which is also implemented in the R8000 and R10000. The R5000 has a two-way superscalar pipeline with high-speed, low latency execution units that enable high performance in a small low-cost chip. The ALU units are heavily pipelined for high throughput of floating-point instructions. For example, the R5000 can issue one new multiply-add (MADD) instruction every cycle. MADD instructions are used intensively in geometry processing for complex interactive 3D modeling.
The R5000 microprocessor includes large on-chip 32kB instruction and data primary caches and integrates on-chip support for an external secondary cache of up to 2MB. Both primary caches are two-way set associative which improves performance. Future products in the R5000 family will support multiprocessing which will enable low cost servers with up to four microprocessors.
Additional products in the R5000 family include a 250 MHz R5000 later in 1996, estimated at 6.8 SPECint95 and 6.8 SPECfp95. Early in 1997 the R5000A is planned to offer even higher performance and additional features.
Because of its small die size, between 80 and 100 square millimeters (depending on the vendor), the R5000 processor is expected to be sold at a low cost and shipping in quantity. The R5000 will be available in both Pin Grid Array (PGA) and Ball Grid Array (BGA) packaging. The R5000 will be manufactured by Integrated Device Technology, NEC Corporation and NKK Corporation. (Specific pricing and availability for the R5000 microprocessor is available from IDT, NEC and NKK.)
"The R5000 is the newest addition to IDT's family of high-performance MIPS-compatible microprocessors. It will allow IDT's customers to take advantage of the raw performance of the processor in compute-intensive as well as graphics-intensive applications," said Len Perham, President and chief executive officer of Integrated Device Technology, Inc. Like all of the other IDT microprocessors, the R5000 offers the highest performance at a very attractive price point."
"NEC will manufacture its version of the R5000, the VR5000, with 0.35-micron drawn (0.27 effective) process technology, providing a compact, low-cost device for high-performance computer systems and embedded applications," said Ichiro Fujitaka, vice president of NEC Electronics Inc. "We will also offer a core logic chip set for both computer systems and embedded designers. By offering both the processor and core logic, NEC will offer 'one-stop shopping' to help designers meet time-to-market pressures. Future plans call for NEC to migrate the VR5000 to 0.25 micron and offer 'system-on-a-chip' derivatives, assuring a robust growth path for developers."Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT) designs, manufactures and markets high-speed CMOS VLSI integrated circuits for a range of growth markets, including desktop computer, workstation/server, data communications and office automation. IDT offers products in four key areas: high-speed SRAMS, RISC microprocessors, specialty memories and high-performance logic. The company's product lines are synergistic, and provide solutions that optimize the cost and performance of microprocessor-based systems. Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., IDT employs approximately 2,850 people worldwide.
NEC Corporation (NIPNY) and its affiliates worldwide are a $43 billion global leader whose 148,000 employees are dedicated to the development, manufacture and marketing of leading-edge computer, communication and semiconductor products and services.
NEC Electronics Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., is an affiliate of NEC Corporation. The company manufactures and markets an extensive line of electronic products including ASICs, microprocessors and microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), memories and components. The company operates a 676,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Roseville, Calif.
MIPS Technologies, Inc. designs and supplies the world's most advanced RISC microprocessor technology. The company tests, certifies and licenses its processor technology to its semiconductor partners, which provide processors for the computer system, consumer and embedded control markets. MIPS microprocessors power systems from a number ofcomputer industry leaders. MIPS RISC architecture components are available from Integrated Device Technology, Inc., LSI Logic Corporation, NEC Corporation, NKK Corporation, Siemens AG, Toshiba Corporation and Philips. MIPS Technologies, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Silicon Graphics, Inc. and is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif.