Sun Targets Embedded Communications Market With 64-Bit UltraSPARC IIe; UltraSPARC IIe Optimized for Converged Network Applications.SAN JOSE San Jose, city, United States San Jose (sănəzā`, săn hōzā`), city (1990 pop. 782,248), seat of Santa Clara co., W central Calif.; founded 1777, inc. 1850. , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 1999-- Sun Microsystems Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA[3]) is an American vendor of computers, computer components, computer software, and information-technology services, founded on 24 February 1982. , Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW SUNW Sun Microsystems, Inc (former stock symbol; now JAVA) SUNW Stanford University Network Workstation (Sun Microsystems, Inc) ) today provided a technology overview of the UltraSPARC(TM) IIe microprocessor, scheduled for release in 2000. The UltraSPARC IIe marks the expansion of the UltraSPARC processor family into the embedded communications market, and represents the industry's first 64-bit processor tailored for the emerging converged network The integration of the telephone system with IP-based data networks. See softswitch. (networking) converged network - A single network that can carry voice, video and data. . The UltraSPARC IIe microprocessor provides the right balance of performance, cost and power consumption to meet the needs of next-generation intelligent network equipment, including telecommunications system controllers, ISP (1) See in-system programmable. (2) (Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Connection to the user is provided via dial-up, ISDN, cable, DSL and T1/T3 lines. equipment, local and wide area network data communications data communications, application of telecommunications technology to the problem of transmitting data, especially to, from, or between computers. In popular usage, it is said that data communications make it possible for one computer to "talk" with another. control, and other processor-intensive applications. The UltraSPARC IIe processor is intended to operate at frequencies of 400 MHz (MegaHertZ) One million cycles per second. It is used to measure the transmission speed of electronic devices, including channels, buses and the computer's internal clock. A one-megahertz clock (1 MHz) means some number of bits (16, 32, 64, etc. and 500 MHz, and is fully binary compatible with the entire UltraSPARC family. To deliver the reliability, availability, serviceability (system, design, hardware, software) Reliability, Availability, Serviceability - (RAS) Three key attributes of a computing system design. See reliability, availability, and serviceability. (RAS (1) See network access server. (2) (Remote Access Service) A Windows NT/2000 Server feature that allows remote users access to the network from their Windows laptops or desktops via modem. See RRAS and network access server. ) and real-time processing capabilities that this market demands, the microprocessor will be supported by robust operating systems like Sun's Solaris(TM) and the Linux operating system, as well as communications-oriented real-time operating systems including Sun's ChorusOS(TM) and Wind River's VxWorks. In addition, performance-tuned communication software application building blocks such as codecs The following is a list of codecs. Audio codecs Non-compression formats
"Sun is the first company to make 64-bit microprocessors for the communications industry its design point. The UltraSPARC IIe microprocessor's performance, 64-bit address capability and large memory bandwidth will provide the throughput and packet processing ability needed for embedded communications applications," said Renu Raman, Sun Microelectronics' director of engineering. "Together with our robust operating system support, Sun is uniquely positioned to provide the reliability and cost-effectiveness that will be needed for embedded network applications." "As indicated in the report, 'Microprocessor Forecast and Embedded Microprocessor Trends through the Year 2000' (November 30, 1998) from GartnerGroup's Dataquest, communications applications are the fastest-growing segment of the 32-bit and 64-bit embedded microprocessor market, both in share of total available revenue and in number of units shipped," said Tom Starnes, embedded microcomponent analyst, Dataquest. "By 2002, the communications application segment of the embedded microprocessor market is estimated to still be in the lead with a 22 percent compound annual growth rate in unit volume." The UltraSPARC IIe processor features integrated functions designed to lower overall system cost. Included on the single chip will be an integrated 256-KB level-2 cache; an integrated 32-bit, industry-standard 66-MHz PCI bus; and an integrated high-performance SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM) A type of dynamic RAM (DRAM) memory chip that has been widely used since the late 1990s. SDRAM chips eliminated wait states by dividing the chip into two cell blocks and interleaving data between them. controller and memory interface. Based on performance analysis and projections, power consumption is estimated at 8 watts for a processor operating at 400 MHz and 1.5 volts. Power management features will permit the chip to consume approximately 3 watts in sleep mode to meet Energy Star compliance requirements. The UltraSPARC IIe processor will be fully compliant with the 64-bit SPARC (Scalable Performance ARChitecture) A family of RISC CPUs from Sun that runs mostly under Sun's Solaris, but also under Linux and BSD operating systems. After development began in the mid-1980s by David Patterson of the University of California at Berkeley and Bill (TM) v9 architecture specification. Based on performance analysis and estimates at 500 MHz, the UltraSPARC IIe is designed to achieve an estimated SPECint95 performance rating of 20 and a SPECfp95 performance rating of 21. Its high-performance memory interface should be capable of transferring data at a rate of up to one gigabyte per second peak (500 MB/sec sustained), and supports up to two gigabytes of system memory. The processor will be housed in a low-cost, industry-standard 370 plastic pin grid array (hardware, processor) Plastic Pin Grid Array - (PPGA) The package used for certain Intel Celeron processors. PPGA processors fit into Socket 370 motherboard sockets. The Plastic Pin Grid Array packaging is similar to that used on Pentium processors. (370 PPGA (Plastic PGA) See PGA. PPGA - Plastic Pin Grid Array ). Multimedia Processing for Embedded Applications The UltraSPARC IIe processor includes the VIS(TM) instruction set, a feature found in all UltraSPARC processors. VIS increases the flexibility of the microprocessor for embedded applications beyond computing functions by providing extensions that accelerate high-performance multimedia and networking applications. Using the VIS architecture is made easier by mediaLib, which provides software building blocks to support the VIS instruction set. Sun's mediaLib is a collection of performance-optimized software subroutines that implement a wide range of graphics, signal processing and video functions that take advantage of UltraSPARC's VIS capability. The mediaLib software is available without charge or licensing requirements at Sun's Web site: www.sun.com/sparc/vis/mediaLib.html. UltraSPARC Processor Performance Tradition Sun's UltraSPARC product family has a proven 11-year track record of architecture expertise with full binary compatibility. In addition to the e-Series, the UltraSPARC family includes the s-Series of scalable symmetric multiprocessing chips designed for maximum performance, and the i-Series, which provides a balance of integration, performance and scalable multiprocessing capabilities. The UltraSPARC family technology roadmap through 2001 represents Sun's commitment to taking the SPARC architecture into the next century. About Sun Microsystems, Inc. Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network Is The Computer(TM)," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq:SUNW) to its position as a leading provider of hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun logo, ChorusOS, mediaLib, VIS, Solaris, HotJava and "The Network is The Computer" are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. The SPARC trademark is used under license and is a trademark or registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc. in the United States and in other countries. Products bearing SPARC trademarks are based upon an architecture developed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. Netscape Navigator is a trademark of Netscape Communications Corporation (company) Netscape Communications Corporation - (Formlerly "Mosaic Communications Corporation", MCC) A company set up in April 1994 by Dr. James H. Clark and Marc Andreessen <marca@netcom. . Press announcements and other information about Sun Microsystems, Inc. are available on the Internet via the World Wide Web using a tool such as Netscape Navigator(TM) or Sun's HotJava(TM) browser. Type http://www.sun.com at the URL URL in full Uniform Resource Locator Address of a resource on the Internet. The resource can be any type of file stored on a server, such as a Web page, a text file, a graphics file, or an application program. prompt. |
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