VAX 7000/10000 KA7AA CPU Technical Manual

This technical manual, "VAX 7000/10000 KA7AA CPU Technical Manual," provides a comprehensive technical overview of the KA7AA CPU module.

The KA7AA is a VAX CPU module designed for the LSB (Local System Bus) platform, based on the NVAX+ microprocessor. It is used in VAX 7000 and VAX 10000 computer systems, delivering significant scalar performance (over 20 times that of a VAX 11/780). It supports uniprocessor configurations with up to seven MS7AA memory modules and one IOP module, and multiprocessor systems with up to six KA7AA CPU modules.

The document details various aspects of the KA7AA CPU module, including:

• CPU Chip (NVAX+): Describes its functional units (Ibox, Ebox, Fbox, Mbox, Cbox), data types, instruction set, virtual and physical address spaces, memory management (translation buffer, page tables), exceptions, interrupts, system control block, process structure, and internal processor registers.
• Cache Subsystem: Explains the three-level cache hierarchy: Virtual Instruction Cache (VIC), Primary Cache (P-cache), and Backup Cache (B-cache), including their attributes, states, write policies, and initialization.
• LSB Bus Interface (LEVI): Details the LEVI gate arrays that provide the CPU module's interface to the LSB bus, covering address and data paths, controllers, interfacing rules, address space mapping, and transaction ordering.
• Console Overview: Describes the CPU console hardware (Serial ROM, FEPROMs, EEPROM, UARTs, Watch chip), console program invocation, and various console registers.
• I/O Operations: Outlines the mailbox data structure and operation, and device interrupt handling.
• CPU Module Registers: Lists and functionally describes LSB required and CPU-specific registers.
• Initialization: Provides an overview of the CPU module's initialization process, including self-tests, boot processor arbitration, and operating system startup.
• Error Handling: Discusses software error handling, various types of error reports (machine checks, hard/soft errors, console halts), error analysis, and recovery procedures.

The manual is intended for developers of system and application software familiar with machine-level programming and the OpenVMS VAX operating system.