🚀 go-pugleaf

Arun Gupta (gupta@mrspock.mt.att.com) wrote:
: David T. Wang <veakblad@Glue.umd.edu> wrote:

: [Regarding chip technology]
: >
: >PPC601-100 is at .35 micron.  
: >PPC604-100,120,132 is at .5 micron
: >PPC604-150 is at .35 micron.

: Well, I'm looking at the Motorola page :

: http://www.mot.com/SPS/PowerPC/library/literature/fs/601.html

: The 100Mhz PPC601 is said to be 
: Quote
:      * 2.5-volt implementation with 5-volt I/O
:      * 0.5-micron static CMOS technology
:      * 74 mm2 die size
:      * 2.8 million transistors
: End quote

Yes, you're right, I don't know aht I was thinking, the 66 MHz through the 
90 MHz 601's were .6 micron, the 100 MHz was .5 micron.  However, there was
a snippet from July 10 ,1995 issue of Microprocessor Reports, which stated
"On the PowerPC side, only the 601 has reached the .35 micron process. IBM 
to move the 603, 604 and 620 to CMOS5X in 1H96" 

   I believe that the .35 micron process was supposed to be on the 601+
so whatever the 601+ is, it's supposedly manufactured on .35 micron.

(Hmm, but the Microprocessor reports may be wrong on this? the Berkley
infopad site also seems to indicate that the 601+ is on the .5 micron
only)

: The IBM web site says that the PPC 604 150 MHz is a 0.5 micron CMOS.

: Check for example :

: http://fnctsrv0.chips.ibm.com/products/ppc/DataSheets/604/604data-html3.html

Believe it or not, I think that this is wrong. I don't know if we can get 
some real IBM'er in here to resolve this, but I looked at that page, and
believe that it was incorrect.  IBM's most advanced CMOS5X process, the 
5 layer metal CMOS is a .35 micron process, and one of the most advanced
process technology in the world.  If we were to believe the page above, 
then IBM's most advanced process technology is used only to manufacture
those Cyrix 6x86 chips.  I think that the page above was constructed for
public consumption, and didn't have to 100% technically correct. 

: >P5-100 is at .6 micron
: >P5-133,150,166 is at .35 micron. 
: >P6-150 is at .6 micron
: >P6-200 is at .35 micron

Intel and IBM has roughly parity in the process technology field. 
Motorola seems to be a bit behind, but they're not that much different. 
there isn't a .25 micron process technology out yet, though some have
predicted that P55c ad 604e will be somewhere in the .28 micron range.

: [deleted]

: >Chicken and Egg problem. No one is able to over take Intel on the technology
: >front until they invest the money to get and edge on processor architecture/
: >processor design/process technology/fab capacity.  But if they don't already
: >have the edge, what can make people purchase their systems, so that they
: >can get the money to invest? And no, Intel won't find a hardtime staying
: >competative with its own X86 architecture.

: All it says is that a shift in hardware architecture is going to be a
: slow process -- there will be no revolution.  PPC will slowly become a
: relatively stronger contender in the course of time.

Shift in hardware architecture will indeed take a long time. but believe 
it or not, some people (and they're not all at Intel either)  have already
started predicting the demise of a couple of the RISC families, mainly, 
there's X86, and there's RISC, and why do you need 5 or 6 families of 
RISC? and right now, the lowest performing RISC family is the PPC. 
(but ofcourse PPC currently has good volume, so it probably won't be
the first in line to go)

: -arun gupta