From Schechter.1@osu.edu Tue Sep 21 20:36:35 1993 Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware,comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: Macintosh PowerPC FAQ Date: 19 Sep 1993 01:36:18 GMT Organization: The Ohio State University Summary: This posting contains a list of questions and (often speculative) answers about PowerPC and its relation to the Macintosh. Originator: sschecht@magnusug.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu Archive-name: macintosh/PowerPC-FAQ Last-modified: 1993/09/07 Version: 1.0 Frequency: Posted once every two weeks. Supersedes: <265qei$dg2@charm.magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Macintosh PowerPC Frequently Asked Questions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- VERSION/DISCLAIMER FAQ Prototype #3 - reader beware. I do not guarentee or take any responsibility for the validity of this document. Remember that much of this information comes from corporate PR, and hence may hold very little relation to the truth. Remember what your mother told you about guys like me. etc. The editor of this FAQ is not an employee of Apple, IBM, or Motorola, but is simply an individual trying to make information easily available over the Internet. FOLLOW-UP INFO Please contribute questions, corrections, and any additional information relavent to this FAQ by emailing the author at `Schechter.1@osu.edu'. PLEASE DO NOT ADD TO NET TRAFFIC BY POSTING THIS INFORMATION! CREDIT WHERE DUE Much of the information in this FAQ came from MacWeek magazine, Internet posts, Motorola advertisements, Apple press releases, and individual contributors. Other information was included that was "common knowledge" or >from the editors personal experience. Much of the information added since the first version of this FAQ came via email from contributors listed in the "acknowledgments" section at the end of this document. PURPOSE This FAQ was created in response to a request for a PowerPC FAQ in comp.sys.mac.hardware. It may eventually be used as the FAQ for the proposed comp.sys.mac.powerpp newsgroup. **************************Table of Contents****************************** Introduction (Above) Headers Version/Disclaimer Follow-up Info Credit Where Do Purpose Table of Contents (you are here) The Chip What makes a PowerPC microprocessor a PowerPC microprocessor? Who is currently developing/manufacturing PowerPC microprocessors? Who makes the PowerPC 601? What other PowerPC microprocessors are planned for the future? How can I reach Motorola for even more PowerPC info? Operating Systems What operating systems are being developed for the PowerPC and when will they be available? The First Machines When can I get my first PowerPC computer? Will the first Apple Power PC machines have AV (Audio Visual) capabilities, like a built in DSP chip? Can I upgrade my machine? What bus will the PowerPC Macintosh use for expansion slots? Programmers Questions How should I program now to avoid PPC porting problems later? With 64 bit addressing coming out with the PowerPC 620, should I start programming 64 bit clean? How do I do this? Where can I get information on programming the PowerPC? Acknowledgments Contributors ******************************The Chip*********************************** What makes a PowerPC microprocessor a PowerPC microprocessor? A PowerPC microprocessor is a RISC microprocessor written to standards formalized by an alliance between Apple, Motorola, and IBM. This standard will allow multiple manufacturers to release their own versions of PowerPC chips that will run the same source code. The PowerPC architecture was based on IBM's POWER architecture, the foundation for IBM's RS/6000 line of computers. Note, the PowerPC 601 is really a processor for transition to PowerPC. Maintaining POWER compatability in the architecture necessited some differences. A few minor operations aren't supported. The PowerPC specification calls for both instruction and data caches, yet the PPC 601 has a combined cache. Who is currently developing/manufacturing PowerPC chips? Motorola and IBM are both in the process of developing PowerPC chips. While prototypes exist, no chips are currently available to the market in mass quantities. Rumor has it IBM is currently manufacturing and stockpiling PPC 601's at this time. Who makes the PowerPC 601? IBM does the actual manufacturing of the PowerPC 601. How much each company contributed to the design of the chip is not clear. Motorola, which markets the PPC 601, is concentrating its efforts on its ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) technology integral to future chip production. Hence, it is no suprise that the PPC 603, 604, and 620 will be manufactured by Motorola. What are the specs on the PowerPC 601? The following are the speed benchmarks Motorola has released for a PowerPC 601 running at 66 MHz vs. the Pentium. Note that Apple has performed machine demonstrations using PowerPC chips running at speeds as fast as 80 MHz. Test PowerPC 601 @66 MHz Pentium @ 66 MHz SPECint92 >60 64.5 SPECfp92 >80 56.9 Power (worst case) 8.5w 16w Die Size (mm^2) 120 262 Other PowerPC 601 Specifications Cache Size 32k (both data and instructions on one cache) Registers 32 general purpose (data/address) Size - 32 bit 32 floating point (IEEE compliant) Size - 64 bit Number of Execution Units 3 (Integer, Floating Point, Branch Processor) Data Bus Width 64 bits Address Bus Width 32 bits Virtual Address Capacity 52 bits Memory Protection Yes Cost $450 Quantity 1 What other PowerPC microprocessors are planned for the future? The PowerPC 603, the miser of the PowerPC line, is expected in mid 1994. It will be the lowest power consumer and all around smallest chip of the PowerPC line, yet will rival the 601 in performance. Expect this chip to appear in portable computers, PDAs, and even cars. Expected to cost in the $50 range, this microprocessor will bring high performance computing to a new range of applications in devices which have yet to take full advantage of computing technology. Also due in mid 1994, the PowerPC 604 is slated to be the processor of choice for high end desktop computing. Many expect it to replace the PowerPC 601 much in the way the 68030 has replaced the 68000 in today's Macintosh computers. At the top of the line we'll see the PowerPC 620, which will handle deal with data and addresses as 64 bit quantities. Motorola is claiming the 620 will run at 200 to 400 SPECmarks, serving as a high end workstation and server. This processor probably will not be available until late 1994. A 32 bit emulation mode is anticipated so that it will be able to run software that isn't 64 bit clean. How can I reach Motorola for even more PowerPC info? General Information: 1-800-845-MOTO For Literature: USA: Motorola Literature Distribution P.O. Box 20912 Phoenix, AZ 85036 EUROPE: Motorola Ltd. European Literature Centre 88 Tanners Drive Blakelands Milton Keynes, MK14 5BP, UK JAPAN: Nippon Motorola Ltd. 4-32-1, Nishi-Gotanda Shinagawa-ku Tokyo 141 Japan ASIA: Motorola Semiconductors H. K. Ltd. Silicon Harbour Center No. 2 Dai King Street Tai Po Industrial Estate Tai Po, N.T., Hong Kong Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector Technical Responsiveness Center: (800) 521-6274. ***************************Operating Systems***************************** What operating systems are being developed for the PowerPC and when will they be available? System 7 (Apple) Apple plans to release its first PowerPC based Macintosh computers in early 1994 with System 7 as its native operating system. A large portion of the ROM and operating system code will be native, but since 68020 emulation will be built in, rarely used Macintosh calls may be emulated. System 7 on the PowerPC will run software native to both the 68000 series and the PowerPC. PowerOpen (PowerOpen Inc.) PowerOpen is an operating system standard designed by the PowerOpen Consortium. Members of the consortium (which of course, include Apple, IBM, and Motorola), may each release their own version of PowerOpen. Current plans call for a Unix operating system built on the Open Software Foundation's OSF/1 kernel. The first releases will emulate code written for 680x0 Macs, and run code native to AIX. Code written for System 7 (680x0 or PPC native) will run in addition to Unix code compiled specifically for PowerOpen. AIX (IBM) IBM's version of UNIX will be the native operating system on the first PowerPCs. OS/2 (IBM) IBM's standard for its Intel based machines can be expected to be running on PowerPC's sometime in 1994. Pink (Taligent) Taligent (The Child of Apple & IBM) plans to release its operating system in 1995. This operating system will run software originally written for a number of different operating environments. Solaris (Sun) Sun announced a version of its Solaris variant of the Unix operating system in late March. A planned release date is not known. Windows (Insignia & Microsoft) Insignia licensed code from Microsoft so that they could bring SoftWindows to the PowerPC. SoftWindows will run on top of System 7. Emulation speed of SoftWindows is said to be approx. 486SX/33. FPU will not be emulated. Windows NT (Motorola?) Microsoft recently licensed the code for Windows NT to Motorola. Whether this code will be re-licensed to Apple or IBM has yet to be seen. Expect some form of Windows NT in '94. Also rumored... NetWare (Novell) Unix System V (AT&T) ***************************The First Machines**************************** When can I get my first PowerPC computer? Apple is currently planning to release its first PowerPC during the first half of 1994. According to MacWeek, the first PowerPC Macs will appear in Centris 610 box and have a price tag of less than $2,000 (whether this will include monitor and keyboard is unspecified). MacWeek also states that March will bring a "Centris-650-like sibling" sporting three NuBus slots. Portable PowerPC 603 Macintosh's are expected in late 1994, early 1995. IBM is also planning to use PowerPC's in everything from portables to desktops to RS/6000 workstations. Claims that these will be available by the end of this year are realistic because IBM has been supporting the POWER architecture for years. Rumor has it IBM even plans to build mainframes with PowerPC 620 chips. (Latest rumor is that we'll see an IBM PowerPC 601 based machines by the end of September. This may not be unrealistic when you consider that IBM is manufacturing the first 601 chips, and controls the supply.) Will the first Apple PowerPC's have AV (Audio Visual) capabilities, like a built in DSP? Not likely. PowerPC chips are fast enough so that they should be able to do Digital Signal Processing (DSP) without an additional chip. Exactly what AV capabilities will be supported in the first machines is not clear. Can I upgrade my machine? The official Apple Macintosh upgrade path will include the following machines: Macintsoh IIvx Macintsoh IIvi Centris 610 Centris 650 Centris 660AV Quadra 800 Quadra 840AV Apple Workgroup Server 60 Apple Workgroup Server 80 In addition, Apple will be licensing chips and ROM's to third parties for use in upgrade cards for other Macintosh models. Remember, however, that these models often have a slow bus and slow memory. The result is that even if a third party upgrade board is provided for, say, an SE/30, it will still not run as fast as a new machine. What bus will the PowerPC Macintosh use for expansion slots? The first few machines will probably use the same NuBus technology in Apple's new AV machines. Later, Intel's PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus standard will be used, as its speeds are far superior to NuBus. *************************Programmer's Questions************************** How should I program now to avoid PPC porting problems later? 1. Program in C or C++ (Although Pascal and other languages will eventually be released, C and C++ will be the first languages available.) 2. Don't assume variable sizes will remain the same. An 'int' in Think C is 16 bits, but PowerPC compilers will use 32 bits. 3. Make your code ANSI C compliant 4. Avoid programming in assembly language at all costs. If speed is an issue, code in C first, and then conditionally compile 680x0 code in as well. 5. If you have a great amount of assembly language code, and you want to start preparing to port now, consider using Echo Logic's FlashPort. For more information, contact Echo Logic at: 943 Holmdel Rd. Holmdel, NJ 07733 Telephone - (908) 946-1100 Fax - (908) 946-9146 With 64 bit addressing coming out with the PowerPC 620, should I start programming 64 bit clean? YES How do I do this? This has yet to be made clear. The best advice would be to program in clean C or C++, without making assumptions about pointer size. Where can I get information on programming the PowerPC? The PowerPC 601 User's Manual (order number MPC601UM/AD) is available for about $6 from Motorola Literature Distribution P.O. Box 20912 Phoenix, Arizona 85036 (phone 800-521-6274). It describes the architecture and instruction set of the PowerPC 601. [There is also another Motorola manual about development tools for the 601 Can someone email purchase info to the editors?] *****************************Acknowledgments***************************** This FAQ is the creation of its editor, Schechter.1@osu.edu (Stuart Schechter), and the following contributors: yoshio@CS.UCLA.EDU (Yoshio Turner), kelleyb@austin.ibm.com, root@physix.mta.ca (Stewart Walker), Chris_Pruett@notes.seagate.com (Chris Pruett), ddkilzer@iastate.edu (David D. Kilzer), dmorley@skate.rutgers.edu (Darin S. Morley), dave@humanitas.ucsb.edu (David Bosso), amm@kodak.com (Alan M. Mathiowetz), and others. Sorry if I've left anyone out! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is an exception to every rule| Stuart E. Schechter (Schechter.1@osu.edu) and his name is... | Computer & Information Science Major | OSU College of Engineering Honors Program -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=>Stuart | ENG Rep - CIS Undergrad Studies Committee ============================================================================== "It is better to be a closet claustrophobic than a flaming pyromaniac."