UltraSPARC II
Encyclopedia
The UltraSPARC II, code-named "Blackbird", is a microprocessor
implementation of the SPARC V9
instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Sun Microsystems
. Marc Tremblay
was the chief architect. Introduced in 1997, it was further development of the UltraSPARC
operating at higher clock frequencies of 250 MHz, eventually reaching 400 MHz.
The die contained 5.4 million transistors and had an area of 149 mm². It was fabricated by Texas Instruments
in their 0.35 µm process, dissipated 25 W at 205 MHz, and used a 2.5 V power supply. L2 cache capacity was 1 to 4 MB.
In 1999, the UltraSPARC II was ported to a 0.25 µm process. This version was code-named "Sapphire-Black". It operated at 360 to 480 MHz, possessed a die area of 126 mm², dissipated 21 W at 400 MHz and the power supply voltage was reduced to 1.9 V. Supported L2 cache capacity was increased to 1 to 8 MB.
Niagara microprocessor in early 2004. It consisted of two UltraSPARC II cores and a on-die L2 cache on a single chip.
The DAC 2004 abstracts described the dual-core UltraSPARC II processor in Session 40. The "Dual-Core UltraSPARC (2003)" was based upon the UltraSPARC II microarchitecture and featured: DDR-1 memory controller, JBUS interface, parity protected L1 cache, ECC protected dual 512KB on-chip Level 2 cache, 1.2 GHz clock frequency, 80 million transistors, 206mm^2 die size, and dissipated 23 watts of power.
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
implementation of the SPARC V9
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
. Marc Tremblay
Marc Tremblay
Marc Tremblay is a distinguished engineer at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft in April 2009, he was senior vice president and chief technology officer of the microelectronics business unit at Sun Microsystems. He was instrumental in the design of various microprocessors at Sun, including the...
was the chief architect. Introduced in 1997, it was further development of the UltraSPARC
UltraSPARC
The UltraSPARC is a microprocessor developed by Sun Microsystems who is now a part of Oracle Corporation and fabricated by Texas Instruments that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture . It was introduced in mid-1995. It was the first microprocessor from Sun Microsystems to implement...
operating at higher clock frequencies of 250 MHz, eventually reaching 400 MHz.
The die contained 5.4 million transistors and had an area of 149 mm². It was fabricated by Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
in their 0.35 µm process, dissipated 25 W at 205 MHz, and used a 2.5 V power supply. L2 cache capacity was 1 to 4 MB.
In 1999, the UltraSPARC II was ported to a 0.25 µm process. This version was code-named "Sapphire-Black". It operated at 360 to 480 MHz, possessed a die area of 126 mm², dissipated 21 W at 400 MHz and the power supply voltage was reduced to 1.9 V. Supported L2 cache capacity was increased to 1 to 8 MB.
UltraSPARC IIe
The UltraSPARC IIe "Hummingbird" was an embedded version introduced in 2000 that operated at 400 to 500 MHz, fabricated in a 0.18 µm process with aluminium interconnects. It dissipated a maximum of 13 W at 500 MHz, used a 1.5 to 1.7 V power supply and had a 256 KB L2 cache.UltraSPARC IIi
The UltraSPARC IIi "Sabre" was a low-cost version introduced in 1997 that operated at 270 to 360 MHz. It was fabricated in a 0.35 µm process and possessed a die size of 156 mm². It dissipated 21 W and used a 1.9 V power supply. It had a 256 KB to 2 MB L2 cache. In 1998, a version code-named Sapphire-Red, was fabricated in a 0.25 µm process, enabling the microprocessor to operate at 333 to 480 MHz. It dissipated 21 W at 440 MHz and used a 1.9 V power supply.UltraSPARC IIe+
The UltraSPARC IIe+ or IIi was introduced in 2002. Code-named "Phantom", it operated at 550 to 650 MHz and was fabricated in a 0.18 µm process with copper interconnect. It dissipated 17.6 W and used a 1.7 V power supply. It had a 512 KB L2 cache.Gemini
The Gemini was the first attempt by Sun to produce a multithreaded microprocessor. It had taped out, but was cancelled before it was introduced after the announcement of UltraSPARC T1UltraSPARC T1
|right|262px|UltraSPARC T1 processorSun Microsystems' UltraSPARC T1 microprocessor, known until its 14 November 2005 announcement by its development codename "Niagara", is a multithreading, multicore CPU...
Niagara microprocessor in early 2004. It consisted of two UltraSPARC II cores and a on-die L2 cache on a single chip.
The DAC 2004 abstracts described the dual-core UltraSPARC II processor in Session 40. The "Dual-Core UltraSPARC (2003)" was based upon the UltraSPARC II microarchitecture and featured: DDR-1 memory controller, JBUS interface, parity protected L1 cache, ECC protected dual 512KB on-chip Level 2 cache, 1.2 GHz clock frequency, 80 million transistors, 206mm^2 die size, and dissipated 23 watts of power.