AUSTIN, Texas - Aug. 31, 1999 - Designers of high-bandwidth applications can now enjoy supercomputing levels of performance from a single-chip solution with the introduction of a revolutionary enhancement to the PowerPC™ microprocessor family, introduced today by Motorola (NYSE:MOT). The MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor with AltiVec™ technology successfully integrates traditional scalar processing with a fully independent vector-processing engine on a single copper technology based chip. The MPC7400 microprocessor is the newest and highest performing member of the PowerPC family which is used extensively in networking, telecommunications, other high-end embedded systems, scientific computing, and desktop computer markets.
"As new applications demand unprecedented levels of performance, our customers look to Motorola's DigitalDNA™ technology to provide reliable, powerful solutions," remarked Daniel Artusi, vice president and general manager of Motorola's Networking and Computing Systems Group. "The MPC7400 which combines the innovation of AltiVec technology and the proven PowerPC microprocessor truly raises the bar in both performance and capability above current industry solutions."
The 128-bit vector engine, which is the heart of Motorola's AltiVec technology, is an extremely powerful and efficient execution unit that works concurrently with the existing PowerPC architecture's computing engines -- the floating point and integer units.
"The new Power Macintosh G4 with its Pentium-crushing PowerPC G4 chip brings supercomputing performance to personal computing," said Phil Schiller, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing. "Now everyone can have a gigaflop of computing power on their desk to speed through the toughest publishing and video tasks."The MPC7400 processor uses a parallel-processing model called SIMD, Single Instruction-Multiple Data. While conventional processors generally execute one to three instructions per clock cycle, Motorola's MPC7400 with AltiVec technology can execute a record 20 operations per clock cycle, thereby rendering processor comparisons on clock speeds (MHz) virtually useless.
"Motorola's G4 delivers the most bang per square millimeter of silicon and per watt of power. Despite its lower clock speed, it should significantly outperform the Pentium III or Athlon on multimedia applications," asserts Keith Diefendorff, Senior Analyst, Cahner's MicroDesign Resources.
Contributing to its high performance, Motorola's newest generation PowerPC microprocessor supports up to two megabytes of backside L2 cache, twice that of the highly regarded MPC750 microprocessor. In addition, the MPC7400 implements Motorola's new high-bandwidth MPX bus featuring minimized signal setup times, reduced idle cycles, and the ability to operate the system bus at frequencies in excess of 100MHz.
To further enrich performance, software can be optimized for use with the MPC7400's 128-bit vector processor to achieve huge gains in performance. The use of C/C++ language extensions allows developers to easily vectorize their applications, realizing average speed-ups between 1.5 and 6 times that of today's traditional scalar applications. While these speedups are impressive, numerous algorithms have demonstrated performance gains well in excess of 10x.
"AltiVec is far more powerful than the multimedia extensions included in the popular microprocessors used in desktop computers," agrees Jack Quinn, President of Micrologic Research.
The MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor is the first of Motorola's microprocessors to be manufactured with the new .15-micron copper HiPerMOS fabrication process. The use of copper in place of aluminum improves circuit speeds and reliability, and reduces manufacturing costs.
Motorola's AltiVec technology is the foundation for the Velocity Engine announced today as part of Apple Computer's next generation of desktop computers. Solutions featuring AltiVec technology will be demonstrated in multiple market applications at Motorola's Horizons event on September 13, 1999.
The MPC7400 PowerPC microprocessor with AltiVec technology is available in 350, 400 and 450 MHz versions, with 500MHz versions available soon, priced at $210, $275, $355 and $475 respectively in quantities of 1,000.
For technical specifications, application notes, and more information, visit http://www.motorola.com/PowerPC/ and http://www.motorola.com/AltiVec/
Motorola
As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products
Sector offers multiple DigitalDNA solutions which enable customers to create new business
opportunities in the consumer, networking and computing, transportation, and wireless
communications markets. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $7.3 billion (USD)
in 1998.
http://sps.motorola.com
Motorola is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1998 were $29.4 (USD) billion.
http://www.motorola.com
Motorola is a registered trademark, and DigitalDNA and AltiVec technology are trademarks of Motorola, Inc. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom.