---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Next Generation of the SPARC(R) Architecture Unveiled SI Defines Architecture Road Map Into 21st Century SunFLASH Vol 42 #19 June 1992 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End Users, Software Developers Get Painless Migration Path to 64-Bits MENLO PARK, Calif. -- June 15, 1992 -- SPARC International (SI) today announced the completion of SPARC Architecture Version 9, which extends the SPARC address space to 64-bits and offers performance and feature enhancements that will maintain SPARC's RISC leadership into the next century. The Version 9 Architecture specification is available now to SI members. Version 9 greatly extends the SPARC architecture while maintaining upward binary compatibility with current versions. This strategy shifts the traditional burden of "porting" applications from software vendors to SPARC International chip and system suppliers. This preserves the investments of both ISVs and end users. SPARC has the leading installed base of RISC/UNIX(R) software with over 5000 applications. Developed cooperatively by leading SPARC microprocessor architects from over a dozen companies, and approved unanimously by SI's Board of Directors, Version 9 contains new instructions, enhanced support for the UNIX operating system, and continued pioneering in multiprocessor support. Version 9 offers complete 64-bit extensions to the SPARC Architecture Version 8, on which current superscalar SPARC implementations, such as TI's SuperSPARC(TM) and Cypress Semiconductor's HyperSPARC(TM), are based. The Board members who voted unanimously to approve the Version 9 specifications are: Amdahl Corporation, Ericsson, Fujitsu Limited, HaL Computer Systems, Hyundai, ICL, Interactive Systems, LSI Logic, Matsushita, Oracle Corporation, Philips International, Ross Technology, Sun Microsystems and Texas Instruments. Computer systems based on Version 8 and Version 9 microprocessors will co-exist throughout the 1990s, and will maintain application software compatibility through conformance to the SPARC Compliance Definition (SCD) 2.X, which is continually evolving to specify all the latest common, stable interfaces between SPARC platforms and applications. Unprecedented Industry Cooperation SPARC is today the only cooperatively-developed, royalty-free architecture in the world. SPARC's open evolutionary process was a primary motivator for many members' decisions to develop products based on SPARC. In a concurrent announcement today, HaL Computer ystems is stating its commitment to develop its own SPARC Version 9 implementation. According to Robert Duncan, SI Chairman and CEO, "We've succeeded in doing something that is still pretty unique. We've achieved cooperation between many aggressive companies while advancing the state of the art. If you try to do something unilaterally, as many competitors of SPARC have recently, and then try to claim you're open, you're wasting your breath. Users will never see the benefit. "The SPARC community has invested 5 years in developing a cooperative model that works, and users are benefiting today in continued software compatibility and advanced features used in products from multiple vendors." 64-Bit Extension All Version 8 integer registers have been extended to 64 bits in Version 9, and all register commands work on the full 64-bit register, with full hardware support for 64-bit arithmetic, including multiplication and division. Addressing is via a 64-bit linear address space, enabling next generation SPARC machines to more efficiently handle large next-generation applications. The Architecture provides dual integer condition codes to enable 32-bit and 64-bit code to efficiently and reliably co-exist. New Instructions Several new instructions have been added in Verson 9 specifically for SPARC superscalar implementations. New conditional move instructions minimize branches and increase performance in both superscalar and superpipelined machines. New atomic memory access instructions and a more flexible memory model allow more efficient synchronization in large scale multiprocessors. UNIX Operating System Support Version 9 has been enhanced to simplify development of fast, modular client/server or microkernel UNIX implementations. To improve context switch and trap handling speed and reliability, Version 9 includes a hardware trap stack and improves SPARC register window handling. Continued Leadership in Multiprocessor Support The Version 8 architecture pioneered a formal model of the interaction of a processor with memory. Version 9 continues this formalism and has added a more relaxed execution order. Version 9 allows processors employing superscalar and superpipelining techniques to use any valid order of execution. Version 9 also adds an atomic compare and swap instruction that supports the use of leading-edge wait-free multiprocessing algorithms. The 64-bit Application Binary Interface Concurrent with the Architecture Committee's development of Version 9, SI is developing the Version 9 ABI, and is now cooperating with UNIX International to adopt that work. This work represents an extension of the Version 8 ABI, enabling both Version 8 and Version 9 binaries to run on any Version 9 compliant machine. The Version 9 ABI will be the basis of SPARC International's work to extend the scope of the SPARC Compliance Definition for applications and platforms based on Version 9 technology. Version 9 Development Tools SPARC International and HaL Computer Systems are working together to make available tools that will assist in the development of Version 9 compliant products. These tools include a full Version 9 Instruction set simulator that will run on existing SPARC Version 8 and Version 7 systems, a Version 9 Architectural Test Suite, an Automated Test Vector Generator, and a Version 9 Assembler and Linker. Details will be made available later this year. SPARCBuilders(TM) Architecture Developers Conference As part of its SPARCBuilders Program, SI is planning the first of a series of hardware and software training conferences for developers of SPARC-based hardware and software products. This first SPARCBuilders Developers Conference is targeted for October, 1992 when the Version 9 specification becomes generally available. The purpose of the Developers Conference is to educate developers on maximizing their use of Version 8 technology in the short term, and to provide the first level of formal instruction to engineers tasked with developing products based on Version 9 technology. The SPARCBuilders Architecture Developers Conference will be taught by distinguished SPARC architects and engineers from leading SPARC systems and semiconductor manufacturers. About SPARC International SPARC International (SI) was founded in 1989 as a not-for-profit service company, and is an independent association of corporations, institutions and individuals focused on developing worldwide markets for products and services based on SPARC technology. SI currently has 253 members in 18 countries. SI is headquartered in Menlo Park, California. SPARC International's Mission SI's mission is to promote the design, development and application of SPARC to computer and peripheral products; establish hardware and software standards, enable compatibility across SPARC branded products; and provide, promote and protect SPARC and SPARC-related brand names. ### SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, SPARC Compatible, SPARC Compliant, SPARC Verified and SPARCBuilders are trademarks of SPARC International, Inc. All other products are referred to herein by the trademarks as designated by the companies who market those products. for PR inquiries, please contact Carol Sacks, x60521. carol.sacks@Corp.sun.com ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For information send mail to info-sunflash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. Archives are on solar.nova.edu, paris.cs.miami.edu, uunet.uu.net, src.doc.ic.ac.uk and ftp.adelaide.edu.au All prices, availability, and other statements relating to Sun or third party products are valid in the U.S. only. Please contact your local Sales Representative for details of pricing and product availability in your region. Descriptions of, or references to products or publications within SunFlash does not imply an endorsement of that product or publication by Sun Microsystems. John McLaughlin, SunFlash editor, flash@sunvice.East.Sun.COM. (305) 776-7770.