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2000

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Document:	Digital's 21064 Microprocessor 21st Century 64-bit RISC Computing Architecture - Today!
Order Number:	XX-928F0-11
Revision:
Pages:	4
Original Filename:	https://web-docs.gsi.de/~kraemer/COLLECTION/DEC/alpha-infosheet.pdf

OCR Text

Digital’s 21064 Microprocessor
21st Century 64-bit RISC Computing Architecture—Today!
TM

The Highest Performance Microprocessor in the Industry
The 21064 microprocessor is the first product implementing Digital’s new 64-bit RISC
computing architecture. Digital’s internal code name for this architecture is Alpha.

The result of a twelve-year investment in research, design, and fabrication, Digital’s
21064 microprocessor has the highest performance of any microprocessor in the industry. The current 150 MHz version offers performance that peaks at 300 million instructions per second (MIPS) and 150 million floating-point operations per second
(MFLOPS). Computer systems built around this microprocessor will be part of a new
generation—a generation of systems that is setting the standard for computing in the
21st century.
The 21064 microprocessor is the first implementation of an architecture designed with
the capacity and performance potential to last at least 25 years. In keeping with the
growing needs of users everywhere, Digital designed the architecture so that future implementations can realize this potential through increased chip speed, advances in multiple instruction issue, and multiprocessor configurations.
With the 21064 microprocessor, everyone wins. Current Digital customers know that
the applications they use today will migrate easily and cost-effectively to the new architecture. Software developers will find that the software they wrote for VAX and
DECsystem computers can migrate easily to 21064-based systems. Any software they
design to take advantage of the Alpha architecture will have a variety of platforms that
will provide industry-leading performance into the 21st century. And hardware developers will win when they create products that use the 21064 microprocessor.

Highlights
The 21064 microprocessor implements
the full 64-bit Alpha architecture using
Digital’s state-of-the-art CMOS
technology.
The current 150 MHz implementation
provides the highest CPU performance
in the industry — 300 peak MIPS and
150 peak MFLOPS.
Its single-chip implementation provides higher performance, improved
reliability, and significantly lower cost.
Full application and development support is available.

Alpha — An Architecture for the
21st Century
The Alpha architecture is a full RISC
architecture without compromises in
its short- or long-term performance.
This is not a 32-bit architecture expanded to 64 bits. Alpha was designed
to be a 64-bit architecture right from
the very start.
Why 64 bits? A full 64-bit system
gives you an extended address space
for truly demanding applications. This
is particularly important for applications such as molecular modeling,
advanced CAD, and weather forecasting — which are expected to reach
performance limitations with 32-bit
technology in the near future.

Designed for Speed
The initial chip implementation is
based on Digital’s leadership 0.75 micron CMOS VLSI technology, which
has produced the fastest chip in the industry. This technology is the result of
more than twelve continuous years of
investment in quality, design, and
process improvements. The result: the
first-pass chips were fully functional
and worked at full speed — a stunning
achievement considering the complexity involved in integrating 1.7 million
discrete devices.
When you look at the 21064 microprocessor, you are looking at a technology that will continue to improve as
the years go by. Digital’s long-term investment in semiconductor technology
ensures ongoing performance improvements. The Alpha architecture has
been designed so that it can cater not
only to increased multiple instructionissue implementations, but also to the
needs of massively parallel processing
(MPP).
One of the reasons the 21064 microprocessor is so fast is that it is a singlechip implementation of the architecture. In addition to the performance
edge, single-chip implementations offer other advantages that make them
cheaper to produce than multiple-chip
implementations. They use less power,
generate less heat, and require less
space on the circuit board. Also, fewer
components usually mean a more reliable product.

The 21064 is a super-scalar, superpipelined implementation of the Alpha
architecture. Super-pipelined means
that an instruction is issued to the functional units at every clock tick and the
results are pipelined. Being superscalar, the architecture allows the instruction unit to issue two instructions
per clock tick, resulting in significantly
higher throughput and performance.
The Founding Member of a Large
Extended Family
The 21064 is the first in a family of
microprocessor implementations of the
Alpha architecture. This family of devices will provide optimized solutions
for systems from the desktop to the
datacenter. This is unlike many competitors’ RISC implementations, which
are oriented to only one style of system, such as workstations. Like the
VAX family, all implementations of
the Alpha architecture will be capable
of running the same system and application software.
Multiprocessing Supports the
Biggest Workloads
The 21064 has been designed to support multiple-processor configurations.
When processing demands are especially high, multiple processors can be
linked to share massive workloads.
With multiprocessing, systems implementing the 21064 can range from
single-chip computers to massively
parallel processor systems. As years of
success with multiprocessing on
Digital’s VAX systems have proven,
this kind of flexibility is a must for
high-performance systems.

Choose the Best Operating System
for the Job
Several characteristics of the Alpha
architecture set new standards for comparison in the industry. The Alpha
architecture has been designed from
the start to be unbiased towards operating systems. For example, the architecture is being introduced to support both
the OSF/1 and VMS operating systems
— with few compromises in speed or
functionality.
The architecture is new, but users’
investments in VAX and DECsystem
applications is protected with technology like the binary translator, which
allows existing applications to run on
21064-based systems. The binary
translator technology is state-of-the-art
and is not limited to only VAX or
DECsystem computers — other translators can be built.
The 21064 microprocessor also includes both VAX and IEEE floating
data types. This is consistent with the
VAX architecture and supports the
most widely accepted industry
standards.
The architecture includes a very flexible, privileged library of software for
optimizing the performance of specific
operating systems. One version of this
software allows the architecture to run
a full version of the VMS operating
system that mirrors many of the VAX
operating system features. Another
version of the software supports a version of the OSF/1 operating system
that mirrors all of the DECsystem operating system features. Other versions
could be tailored for real-time, teaching, or other special uses. This library
makes it possible for virtually any operating system to run efficiently on
Alpha systems.

The Open Advantage
The 21064 microprocessor is strong
testimony to Digital’s commitment to
delivering the Open Advantage to our
customers. Openness also requires
open business practices. So, in addition
to selling systems built around the
21064 microprocessor, Digital will license the technology and form partnerships with vendors who want to use the
architecture in their systems or embed
the microprocessor in special-purpose
products. To complement the open
technology and open business practices, open service offerings range
from simple requirements such as replacing spare Digital or non-Digital
parts to actually outsourcing and managing complex information centers.

Specifications
Process Technology

.75 micron CMOS

Cycle Time

150 MHz (6.6 ns)

Die Size

13.9mm x 16.8mm

Transistor Count

1.68 million

Package

431 pin PGA

Number of Signal Pins

291

Power Dissipation

23 W at 6.6 ns cycle

Power Supply

3.3 volts

Clocking Input

300 MHz differential

On-chip D-cache

8 Kbyte, physical, direct-mapped, write-through,
32-byte line, 32-byte fill

On-chip I-cache

8 Kbyte, physical, direct-mapped, 32-byte line,
32-byte fill, 64 ASNs

On-chip DTB

32-entry; fully-associative; 8-Kbyte, 64-Kbyte,
256-Kbyte, 4-Mbyte page sizes

On-chip ITB

8-entry, fully associative, 8-Kbyte page plus 4-entry,
fully-associative, 4-Mbyte page

Floating Point Unit

On-chip FPU supports both IEEE and VAX
floating point

Bus

Separate data and address bus; 128-bit/64-bit data bus

Serial ROM Interface

Allows the chip to directly access serial ROM

Virtual Address Size

64 bits checked; 43 bits implemented

Physical Address Size

34 bits implemented

Page Size

8 Kbytes

Issue Rate

2 instructions per cycle to A-box, E-box, or F-box

Integer Pipeline

7-stage pipeline

Floating Pipeline

10-stage pipeline

Service and Support
Twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a
year, Digital’s Customer Support
Centers around the world offer stateof-the-art hardware, software, and
network solutions. Besides supporting
our own equipment, Digital provides
first-class service for other vendors’
equipment.
More than 40,000 professionals in 450
locations worldwide deliver a wide
range of services. These include services for developing information systems solutions and integrating them
with your business, organization, technical environment, and architecture.
Digital is committed to providing a
wide range of services designed specifically for vendors who are incorporating the 21064 microprocessor into
their own products. Services range
from training, telephone support, and
design-in services, to service partnerships and private-label service offerings for vendors’ end customers.
For More Information
To learn more about pricing and availability of the 21064 microprocessor
in its 150 MHz or faster clock rate
versions, contact your local Digital
sales representative. Or, in the United
States, dial 1-800-DEC-2717;
1-800-DEC-2515 TTY.
Digital believes the information in this publication is accurate as of its publication date; such
information is subject to change without notice.
The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: DEC, DECsystem, the
DIGITAL logo, Open Advantage, VAX, and
VMS.
OSF/1 is a registered trademark of Open
Software Foundation, Inc.