DOCSLIB.ORG

KA680 CPU Module Technical Manual

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
KA680 CPU Module Technical Manual KA680 CPU Module Technical Manual Order Number: EK-KA680-TM-001 First Edition, December 1991 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its affiliated companies. © Digital Equipment Corporation 1991. All Rights Reserved. The postpaid Reader’s Comments forms at the end of this document request your critical evaluation to assist in preparing future documentation. The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: DEC, DECnet, DEQNA, DSSI, LPV11–SA, MicroVAX, PDP, Q–bus, Q22–bus, RRD50, RSTS, ThinWire, ULTRIX, UNIBUS, VAX, VAXELN, VAXstation, VMS, VT, and the Digital logo. This document was prepared using VAX DOCUMENT, Version 2.0. Contents Preface . xxiii 1 Overview 1.1 Introduction . 1–1 1.2 KA680 CPU Module . 1–2 1.2.1 The Central Processing Subsystem . 1–4 1.2.1.1 The NVAX Central Processing Unit (DC246) . 1–4 1.2.1.2 The Cache Memory . 1–5 1.2.2 The System Support Subsystem . 1–5 1.2.2.1 The System Support Chip [SSC (DC511)] . 1–5 1.2.2.2 The Firmware ROMs . 1–6 1.2.2.3 The Boot and Diagnostic Register . 1–6 1.2.2.4 The Station Address ROM . 1–6 1.2.3 The I/O Subsystem . 1–6 1.2.3.1 NVAX CP-bus Bus Adapter [NCA (DC243)] . 1–6 1.2.3.1.1 DSSI Mass Storage Interface [SHAC (DC542)] . 1–7 1.2.3.1.2 Ethernet Interface [SGEC (DC541)] . 1–7 1.2.3.1.3 Q22–bus Interface [CQBIC (DC527)] . 1–7 1.2.4 The Memory Control Subsystem . 1–7 1.2.4.1 NVAX Memory Controller [NMC (DC244)] . 1–8 1.3 MS690 Memory Module . 1–8 1.4 H3604 Console Module . 1–8 2 Installation and Configuration 2.1 Installing the KA680 and MS690 Memory Modules . 2–1 2.2 Module Configuration and Naming . 2–2 2.3 Mass Storage Configuration . 2–3 2.3.1 Changing the Node Name . 2–4 2.3.2 Changing the DSSI Unit Number . 2–5 2.3.3 Accessing RF-series Firmware in VMS Through DUP . 2–6 2.3.3.1 Allocation Class . 2–6 2.4 DSSI Cabling, Device Identity, and Bus Termination . 2–7 2.5 KA680 Connectors . 2–7 3 Central Processor 3.1 Processor State . 3–1 3.1.1 General-Purpose Registers . 3–1 3.1.2 Processor Status Longword . 3–2 3.1.3 Internal Processor Registers . 3–3 3.2 Process Structure . 3–23 3.3 Data Types . 3–23 iii 3.4 Instruction Set . 3–23 3.5 Memory Management . 3–24 3.5.1 Translation Buffer . 3–24 3.5.2 30-bit to 32-bit Physical Address Translations . 3–26 3.5.3 Memory Management Control Registers . 3–28 3.6 Interrupts and Exceptions . 3–29 3.6.1 Interrupts . 3–29 3.6.1.1 Power Fail Interrupt . 3–33 3.6.1.2 Hard Error Interrupts . 3–34 3.6.1.3 Soft Error Interrupts . 3–34 3.7 Exceptions . 3–34 3.7.1 Arithmetic Exceptions . 3–35 3.7.2 Memory Management Exceptions . 3–36 3.7.3 Emulated Instruction Exceptions . 3–37 3.7.4 Vector Unit Disabled Fault . 3–39 3.7.5 Machine Check Exceptions . 3–39 3.7.6 Console Halts . 3–40 3.7.7 Kernel Stack Not Valid Exception . 3–41 3.8 System Control Block (SCB) . 3–41 3.9 System Identification . 3–44 3.9.1 System Identification Register . 3–44 3.9.2 System Identification Extension (SIE) Register (20040004) . 3–45 3.10 CPU References . 3–46 3.10.1 Instruction-Stream Read References . 3–46 3.10.2 Ownership Read References . 3–47 3.10.3 Disown Write References . 3–48 3.10.4 Data-Stream Read References . 3–48 3.10.5 Write References . 3–48 3.11 NVAX Data/Address Lines (NDAL) . 3–48 3.11.1 NDAL Transactions . 3–48 3.11.1.1 Reads and Fills . 3–51 3.11.1.1.1 D-stream Read Requests (DREAD) . 3–51 3.11.1.1.2 I-stream Read Requests (IREAD) . 3–51 3.11.1.1.3 Ownership Read Requests (OREAD) . 3–51 3.11.1.1.4 Read Data Return Cycles (RDR0, RDR1, RDR2, RDR3) . 3–52 3.11.1.1.5 Read Data Error Cycles (RDE) . 3–52 3.11.1.2 Writes . 3–52 3.11.1.2.1 Normal Write Transactions (WRITE) . 3–52 3.11.1.2.2 Disown Write Transactions (WDISOWN) . 3–53 3.11.1.2.3 Write Data and Bad Write Data (WDATA,BADWDATA) . 3–53 3.11.2 Cache Coherency . 3–53 3.11.3 VAX Architecturally-defined Interlocks . 3–55 3.11.3.1 Ownership and Interlock Transactions . 3–55 3.11.4 Errors . 3–55 3.11.4.1 Transaction Timeout . 3–55 3.11.4.2 Nonexistent Memory and I/O . 3–55 iv 4 KA680 Cache Memory Overview 4.1 Cacheable References . 4–2 4.2 Virtual Instruction Cache . 4–2 4.2.1 Virtual Instruction Cache Organization . 4–3 4.2.2 Virtual Instruction Cache Internal Processor Registers . 4–4 4.2.2.1 VIC Virtual Memory Address Register (VMAR) - IPR 208 . 4–4 4.2.2.2 VIC TAG Register (VTAG) - IPR 209 . 4–5 4.2.2.3 VIC Data Register (VDATA) - IPR 210 . 4–6 4.2.2.4 VIC Control and Status Register (ICSR) - IPR 211 . 4–7 4.3 Primary Cache . 4–8 4.3.1 Primary Cache Organization . 4–8 4.3.2 Pcache Control . 4–9 4.3.3 Pcache Hit/Miss Determination . 4–12 4.3.3.1 Hit/Miss Determination.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Engineering Specification for the KA43 Processor Module Revision 1.0 1–May–1989 COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION
    Engineering Specification for the KA43 Processor Module Revision 1.0 1–May–1989 COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL RESTRICTED DISTRIBUTION COPYRIGHT (c) 1989 by DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION This information shall not be disclosed to non-Digital personnel or generally distributed within Digital. Distribution is restricted to persons authorized and designated by the responsible en- gineer or manager. This document shall not be left unattended, and when not in use shall be stored in a locked storage container. The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may occur in this document. The information in this document does not describe any program or product currently available from Digital Equipment Corporation. Nor does Digital Equipment Corporation commit to imple- ment this specification in any program or product. Digital Equipment Corporation makes no commitment that this document accurately describes any product which it might ever make. Digital Equipment Corporation CONTENTS Preface . ........................................................... v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................. 1 1.1 Scope of Document ................................................... 1 1.2 General Description .................................................. 1 1.3 Applicable Documents ................................................. 2 Chapter 2 KA43 ROM MEMORY ........................................
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Technical Journal, Number 7, August 1988: CVAX
    Digital Technical Tournal Digital Equipment Corporation Managing Editor Richard W Beam Edltor Jane C. Dlak Pcoductloa St& Production Editor - Helen 1 Partenon Designer - Charlotte Bell Typographers -Jonathan M. Bohy Macgaret Burdine lllusultor - Deborah Kc~lcy Advisoiy Board Samuel H. Fuller, Chairman Robert M. Glorioso John W. McCredle Mahendra R. Patel F. Grant Saviers William D. Srrcckr Victor A. Vyssutsky The Digital Technical Journal is published by Digital Equipment Corporatloa, 77 Reed Road, Hudson, Magsachu~etts0 1749. Changes of address should be sent to Digital Equipment Corporation. attention: List Maintenance. I0 Forbes Road, Northboro, MA 01532 Please indude the address label wlth changes marked. Comments on the content of any paper arc welcomed. Write to the editor at Mall Stop HL02.3/K11 at the published~bpaddress. Comments can ahbe sent on the BNET to RDVAX: :BIAKEor on the ARPANET to B~%RDVAX.DE~DE~. Copyright @ 1988 Digital Equipment Corporation. Copying without fee is permitted provided that such copies are made for use in educational lnstltutions by faculty members and are nor distributed for commercial advantage. Abstncting with credit of Digital Equipment Corporation's authorship is permltted. Requests for other copies for a Pee may br made to Digiul Press of Digital Equipment Corporation. A11 rights reserved. The information in this journal is subject to change without notice and should not bc construed as a com- mltment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corpmtion assumes no responslbllity for any errors that may appcss in this document ISSN 0898.901X Documentatlcm Number EY-6742H-DP The following are wademarks of Digital Gquipmcnt Corporation: ALL.IN-I.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1-Introduction to Microprocessors File
    Chapter 1 Introduction to Microprocessors Expected Outcomes Explain the role of the CPU, memory and I/O device in a computer Distinguish between the microprocessor and microcontroller Differentiate various form of programming languages Compare between CISC vs RISC and Von Neumann vs Harvard architecture NMKNYFKEEUMP Introduction A microprocessor is an integrated circuit built on a tiny piece of silicon It contains thousands or even millions of transistors which are interconnected via superfine traces of aluminum The transistors work together to store and manipulate data so that the microprocessor can perform a wide variety of useful functions The particular functions a microprocessor perform are dictated by software The first microprocessor was the Intel 4004 (16-pin) introduced in 1971 containing 2300 transistors with 46 instruction sets Power8 processor, by contrast, contains 4.2 billion transistors NMKNYFKEEUMP Introduction Computer is an electronic machine that perform arithmetic operation and logic in response to instructions written Computer requires hardware and software to function Hardware is electronic circuit boards that provide functionality of the system such as power supply, cable, etc CPU – Central Processing Unit/Microprocessor Memory – store all programming and data Input/Output device – the flow of information Software is a programming that control the system operation and facilitate the computer usage Programming is a group of instructions that inform the computer to perform certain task NMKNYFKEEUMP Introduction Computer
    [Show full text]
  • Digital Technical Journal, Number 7, August 1988: CVAX-Based Systems
    CVAX-based Systems Digital Technical Journal Digital Equipment Corporation umhcr 7 August I9R8 Managing Editor Richard W Beane Editor jane C. Blake Production Staff Produnion Editor- Helen L. Paucrson Designer- Charlo!!<: Bell Typographers- Jonathan !\·f. Uohy Margart:t Burdine lllustrawr- Dt:borah Keeley Advisory Board Samuel H. Fuller, Chairman Robert M. Glorioso John W McCredie Mahendra R. Patel F. Grant Saviers William D. Strecker Victor A. Vyssotsky The Digital Tecbnical jnumal is published by Digital Equipmt:nt Corporation. 77 Reed Road. Hudson. Massachuscus 01749. Changes of address should be sent to Digital E quipment Corporation. aut:ntion: List Maintenance. I 0 Forbes Road. Northboro. MA 015j2. Please includt: the address label with changes marked. Comments on the content of any paper are wclcomt:d. Write to the editor at Mail Stop 1-lLOl-.�/Kil at the published-by address. Comments can also be sent on the ENET to RDV�'X::OIAKE or on the ARPANET to BLA.K.E'X,RDVAX. DEC�)l)ECWRL. Copyright © 1988 Digital Equ ipment Corporation. Copying without fee is permiued providt:d that such copies are made for use in t:duc:uional institmions by faculty members and arc not distributed for commercial advamage. Abstracting with credit of Digital Equipment Corporation's authorship is pcrmiued. Requests for other copies for a fee may be made 10 Digital Press of Digital Equipmem Corporation. All rights reserved. The information in this journal is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a com­ miunem by Digital E quipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumt:s no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document.
    [Show full text]
  • VAX-Computer
    wdv-notes Stand: 24.JUL.1993 (4.) 188 VAX Computer: Modell-Übersicht. Wiss.Datenverarbeitung © 1980–1993 Karl-Heinz Dittberner FREIE UNIVERSITÄT BERLIN Hard Mit der folgenden Liste wird versucht, die ID-Bezeichnung, die relative (auf die Als Quellen wurden diverse DEC-Pu- alle von der Firma Digital Equipment VAX-11/780 bezogene) Leistungsfähig- blikationen verwendet sowie die Beschrei- Corporation (DEC) produzierten Modelle keit in VUPS, die in etwa dem MIPS bungen von SYS$GETSYI in der VMS- der Computer-Familien der VAX und der entspricht, die Typen der vorhandenen I/ Dokumentation und von $PRDEF, $VAX- Alpha AXP in einer konzentrierten Form O-Busse, der Modell-Name sowie der DEF und $ALPHADEF in der System zu erfassen. Tarnname (code name). Macro Library. Das Verzeichnis wurde im Die Übersicht ist nach Prozessor-Fa- Bei den Bus-Bezeichnungen bedeu- März 1993 der im UseNET von Paul Hardy milien und innerhalb dieser nach Subtypen ten: U = UniBus, M = MassBus, C = CI- (Email: [email protected]) veröffentlichten (X bzw. S) gegliedert. Angegeben sind für Bus, Q = Q-Bus, B = BI-Bus, D = DSSI, X Liste angepaßt. Alle zur Zeit noch aktuel- die einzelnen Computer-Modelle die SID- = XMI, T = TurboChannel, S = SCSI, F = len Modelle sind hinter dem Code-Namen Bezeichnung, die den CPU-Typ enthält, FutureBus+, E = EISA-Bus. mit einem * versehen. SID X ID VUPS Bus Model Name Code Name SID X ID VUPS Bus Model Name Code Name —— 1977: 700 series ———————————————————————————— —— 1991: NVAX+ chip series ———– Decimal SID = 385875968 ———————— 0100xxxx – 780 1.0
    [Show full text]
  • VAX VMS at 20
    1977–1997... and beyond Nothing Stops It! Of all the winning attributes of the OpenVMS operating system, perhaps its key success factor is its evolutionary spirit. Some would say OpenVMS was revolutionary. But I would prefer to call it evolutionary because its transition has been peaceful and constructive. Over a 20-year period, OpenVMS has experienced evolution in five arenas. First, it evolved from a system running on some 20 printed circuit boards to a single chip. Second, it evolved from being proprietary to open. Third, it evolved from running on CISC-based VAX to RISC-based Alpha systems. Fourth, VMS evolved from being primarily a technical oper- ating system, to a commercial operat- ing system, to a high availability mission-critical commercial operating system. And fifth, VMS evolved from time-sharing to a workstation environment, to a client/server computing style environment. The hardware has experienced a similar evolution. Just as the 16-bit PDP systems laid the groundwork for the VAX platform, VAX laid the groundwork for Alpha—the industry’s leading 64-bit systems. While the platforms have grown and changed, the success continues. Today, OpenVMS is the most flexible and adaptable operating system on the planet. What start- ed out as the concept of ‘Starlet’ in 1975 is moving into ‘Galaxy’ for the 21st century. And like the universe, there is no end in sight. —Jesse Lipcon Vice President of UNIX and OpenVMS Systems Business Unit TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I Changing the Face of Computing 4 CHAPTER II Setting the Stage 6 CHAPTER
    [Show full text]
  • Database Integration
    I DATABASE INTEGRATION ALPHA SERVERS & WORKSTATIONS Digital ALPHA 21164 CPU Technical Journal Editorial The Digital TechnicalJournal is a refereed Cyrix is a trademark of Cyrix Corporation. Jane C. Blake, Managing Editor journal published quarterly by Digital dBASE is a trademark and Paradox is Helen L. Patterson, Editor Equipment Corporation, 30 Porter Road a registered trademark of Borland Kathleen M. Stetson, Editor LJ02/D10, Littleton, Massachusetts 01460. International, Inc. Subscriptionsto the Journal are $40.00 Circulation (non-U.S. $60) for four issues and $75.00 EDA/SQL is a trademark of Information Catherine M. Phillips, Administrator (non-U.S. $115) for eight issues and must Builders, Inc. Dorothea B. Cassady, Secretary be prepaid in U.S. funds. University and Encina is a registered trademark of Transarc college professors and Ph.D. students in Corporation. Production the electrical engineering and computer Excel and Microsoft are registered pde- Terri Autieri, Production Editor science fields receive complimentary sub- marks and Windows and Windows NT are Anne S. Katzeff, Typographer scriptions upon request. Orders, inquiries, trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Joanne Murphy, Typographer and address changes should be sent to the Peter R Woodbury, Illustrator Digital TechnicalJournal at the published- Hewlett-Packard and HP-UX are registered by address. Inquiries can also be sent elec- trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Company. Advisory Board tronically to [email protected]. Single copies INGRES is a registered trademark of Ingres Samuel H. Fuller, Chairman and back issues are available for $16.00 each Corporation. Richard W. Beane by calling DECdirect at 1-800-DIGITAL Donald Z. Harbert (1-800-344-4825).
    [Show full text]
  • Thesis May Never Have Been Completed
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): A case study of indecision, innovation and company failure Goodwin, D.T. Publication date 2016 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Goodwin, D. T. (2016). Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): A case study of indecision, innovation and company failure. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) (DEC) Corporation Digital Equipment David Thomas David Goodwin Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): A Case Study of Indecision, Innovation and Company Failure David Thomas Goodwin Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): A Case Study of Indecision, Innovation and Company Failure David Thomas Goodwin 1 Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC): A Case Study of Indecision, Innovation and Company Failure ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof.
    [Show full text]
  • The Design of the VAX 4000 Model 100 and Microvax 3100 Model 90 Desktop Systems by Jonathan C. Crowell and David W. Maruska
    The Design of the VAX 4000 Model 100 and MicroVAX 3100 Model 90 Desktop Systems By Jonathan C. Crowell and David W. Maruska 1 Abstract The MicroVAX 3100 Model 90 and VAX 4000 Model 100 systems were designed to meet the growing demand for low-cost, high-performance desktop servers and timesharing systems. Both systems are based on the NVAX CPU chip and a set of VLSI support chips, which provide outstanding CPU and I/O performance. Housed in like desktop enclosures, the two systems provide 24 times the CPU performance of the original VAX-11/780 computer. With over 2.5 gigabytes of disk storage and 128 megabytes of main memory, the complete base system fits in less than one cubic foot of space. The system design was highly leveraged from existing designs to help meet an aggressive schedule. 2 Introduction The demand for low-cost, high-performance desktop servers and timesharing systems is increasing rapidly. The MicroVAX 3100 Model 90 and VAX 4000 Model 100 systems were designed to meet this demand. Both systems are based on the NVAX CPU chip and a set of very large-scale integration (VLSI) support chips, which provide outstanding CPU and I/O performance.[1] Each member of the MicroVAX 3100 family of systems constitutes a low- cost, general-purpose, multiuser VAX system in an enclosure that fits on the desktop. This enclosure supports all the required components of a typical system, including the main memory, synchronous and asynchronous communication lines, thick-wire and ThinWire Ethernet, and up to five small computer system interface (SCSI)-based storage devices.
    [Show full text]
  • The Computer History Simulation Project
    The Computer History Simulation Project The Computer History Simulation Project The Computer History Simulation Project is a loose Internet-based collective of people interested in restoring historically significant computer hardware and software systems by simulation. The goal of the project is to create highly portable system simulators and to publish them as freeware on the Internet, with freely available copies of significant or representative software. Simulators SIMH is a highly portable, multi-system simulator. ● Download the latest sources for SIMH (V3.5-1 updated 15-Oct-2005 - see change log). ● Download a zip file containing Windows executables for all the SIMH simulators. The VAX and PDP-11 are compiled without Ethernet support. Versions with Ethernet support are available here. If you download the executables, you should download the source archive as well, as it contains the documentation and other supporting files. ● If your host system is Alpha/VMS, and you want Ethernet support, you need to download the VMS Pcap library and execlet here. SIMH implements simulators for: ● Data General Nova, Eclipse ● Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1, PDP-4, PDP-7, PDP-8, PDP-9, PDP-10, PDP-11, PDP- 15, VAX ● GRI Corporation GRI-909 ● IBM 1401, 1620, 1130, System 3 ● Interdata (Perkin-Elmer) 16b and 32b systems ● Hewlett-Packard 2116, 2100, 21MX ● Honeywell H316/H516 ● MITS Altair 8800, with both 8080 and Z80 ● Royal-Mcbee LGP-30, LGP-21 ● Scientific Data Systems SDS 940 Also available is a collection of tools for manipulating simulator file formats and for cross- assembling code for the PDP-1, PDP-7, PDP-8, and PDP-11.
    [Show full text]
  • KA650 CPU Module Technical Manual
    KA6S0 CPU Module Technical Manual Order Number EK-KA650-UG.003 KA650 CPU Module Technical Manual Order Number EK-KA650-UG.003 digital equipment corporation maynard, massachusetts First Edition. December 1987 Second Edition. August 1988 Third Edition. March 1989 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and should not be construed as a commitment by Digital Equipment Corporation. Digital Equipment Corporation assumes no responsibility for any errors that may appear in this document. The software described in this document is furnished under a license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. No responsibility is assumed for the use or reliability of software on equipment that is not supplied by Digital Equipment Corporation or its affiliated companies. Copyright @1989 by Digital Equipment Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A. The followlIlg are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: DEC MicroVAX II RSX DECmate MicroVAX3500 RT DECUS MicroVAX 3600 UNIBUS DECwriter PDP VAX DIBOL P/OS VAXstation LSI-ll Professional VMS MASSBUS Q-bus VT MicroPDP-ll Q22-bus VT100 MicroVAX Rainbow Work Processor MicroVAX I RSTS FCC NOTICE: The equipment described in this manual generates, uses, and may emit radio frequency energy. The equipment has been type tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device pursuant to Subpart J of Part 15 of FCC Rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such radio frequency interference when operated in a commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area may cause interference, in which case the user at his own expense may be required to take measures to· correct the interference.
    [Show full text]
  • Circuit Implementation of a 300-Mhz 64-Bit Second-Generation CMOS Alpha CPU by William J
    Circuit Implementation of a 300-MHz 64-bit Second-generation CMOS Alpha CPU by William J. Bowhill, Shane L. Bell, Bradley J. Benschneider, Andrew J. Black, Sharon M. Britton, Ruben W. Castelino, Dale R. Donchin, John H. Edmondson, Harry R. Fair, III, Paul E. Gronowski, Anil K. Jain, Patricia L. Kroesen, Marc E. Lamere, Bruce J. Loughlin, Shekhar Mehta, Robert O. Mueller, Ronald P. Preston, Sribalan Santhanam, Timothy A. Shedd, Michael J. Smith, Stephen C. Thierauf ABSTRACT A 300-MHz, custom 64-bit VLSI, second-generation Alpha CPU chip has been developed. The chip was designed in a 0.5-um CMOS technology using four levels of metal. The die size is 16.5 mm by 18.1 mm, contains 9.3 million transistors, operates at 3.3 V, and supports 3.3-V/5.0-V interfaces. Power dissipation is 50 W. It contains an 8-KB instruction cache; an 8-KB data cache; and a 96-KB unified second-level cache. The chip can issue four instructions per cycle and delivers 1,200 mips/600 MFLOPS (peak). Several noteworthy circuit and implementation techniques were used to attain the target operating frequency. INTRODUCTION The Alpha 21164 chip is a 300-megahertz (MHz), quad-issue, custom very large-scale integration (VLSI) implementation of the Alpha architecture that delivers peak performance of 1,200 million instructions per second (mips)/600 million floating-point operations per second (MFLOPS). The chip is designed in a 0.5-micrometer (um) complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology using four levels of metal. The die measures 16.5 millimeters (mm) by 18.1 mm and contains 9.3 million transistors.
    [Show full text]