Low 1.9 volt design is ideal for embedded, mobile and desktop applications

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 27, 1998-- Continuing to expand its portfolio of high-performance PowerPC(tm) microprocessors, Motorola announced today the availability of 366-, and 333- and 300 MHz PowerPC 750(tm) microprocessors operating at a new, low voltage.

The 366- and 333 MHz frequencies are new performance marks for the PowerPC 750 microprocessor. All three of these new 1.9 volt versions also reduce power consumption by more than half when compared to existing PowerPC 750 microprocessors at the same clock speed. This industry-leading combination of high performance and low power dissipation is ideal for a wide range of products and applications from networking and telecommunications to desktop and mobile computing.

Benefits to Customers

Digital data has quickly become the prime driver and enabler of the extraordinary growth of information traffic worldwide. In providing a new class of products and applications to support this growth, vendors must offer higher computational capabilities and, at the same time, meet customers' low power and low heat requirements. The new, low-voltage PowerPC 750 microprocessors provide this combination of top-end performance without power penalty.

Motorola has boosted the top clock speed of its PowerPC 750 microprocessor product line by more than 20 percent while also reducing power consumption. Using Motorola's advanced manufacturing process technology, the internal voltage was reduced from 2.6 volts to 1.9 volts. As a result, the new 1.9 volt 300 MHz PowerPC 750 microprocessor's typical power consumption of 3.4 watts is less than half of the 7.0 watts of the 2.6 volt version.

``Motorola's advanced manufacturing capabilities are a powerful tool for building high-performance, low-power microprocessors,'' said Will Swearingen, PowerPC strategic marketing manager for Motorola's Networking and Computing Systems Group. ``The resulting combination of higher clock speeds and lower power will enable Motorola's latest PowerPC 750 microprocessors to help customers in multiple markets maximize system-level performance and value.''

The new PowerPC 750 microprocessors at 366-, 333-, and 300 MHz are available today in 360-pin CBGA (ceramic ball grid array) packaging. The suggested unit list price at 366 MHz is $595 in quantities of 1,000. Operating at a 3.4 to 5.0 watt typical power dissipation range, the three new 1.9 volt PowerPC 750 microprocessors have 3.3v I/Os, a 32KB instruction cache, a 32KB data cache and 6.35 million transistors.

The 366 MHz version achieves an estimated performance of 671 MIPS, and an estimated SPECint95 of 16.1, and SPECfp95 of 9.9. Motorola is also announcing immediate availability of its PowerPC 740 microprocessor at 300 MHz in the new lower voltage in 255-pin CBGA packaging.

As the world's Number 1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector offers multiple DigitalDNA(tm) solutions which enable its customers in the consumer, networking and computing, transportation and wireless communications markets, to create new business opportunities. Motorola's semiconductor sales were $8.0 billion (US) in 1997.

In the global marketplace, Motorola also is one of the leading providers of wireless communications, advanced electronic systems, components and services. Major equipment businesses include cellular telephone, two-way radio, paging and data communications, personal communications, automotive, defense and space electronics and computers. Corporate sales in 1997 were $29.8 billion (US).

Motorola is a registered trademark of Motorola Inc. DigitalDNA is a trademark of Motorola Inc. PowerPC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation, used under license therefrom. All other names, products and services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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Apple demos 400-MHz notebook
By Jim Davis
Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
May 12, 1998, 6:05 p.m. PT
URL: http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,22048,00.html

Apple is getting ready to put some serious power into its PowerBook
portable computers, while it officially sanctions new Motorola chip technology.

Apple demonstrated a prototype notebook with a 400-MHz PowerPC processor
at its Worldwide Developers Conference today, according to attendees at the
annual confab.

Currently, Apple's fastest notebook uses a 292-MHz PowerPC 750 chip; its
desktops peak at 300 MHz. In contrast, the present generation of Intel
Pentium II-based notebooks tops out at 266 MHz. Apple claims that a PowerPC
750 running at the same speed as a Pentium II can perform up to twice as
fast on some operations.

In related news, the company also disclosed plans to boost multimedia
performance of its desktop computers by using a chip technology called
AltiVec. Introduced last week by Motorola, AltiVec consists of a new
   LIVE stock quote     "execution unit" inside the PowerPC processor that
                        is built to efficiently process certain kinds of
  Delayed 20 minutes    data.
  Apple Computer Inc.
  AAPL  30.0625 -0.21%  PowerPC chips with AltiVec will be able to process
  Metrowerks Inc.       16 times the number of data "chunks" for each "tick"
                        of the chip's clock cycle compared to previous
  MTWKF  7.1250 +3.64%  designs. In some applications, this could translate
  Motorola Inc.         into anywhere from a doubling to a thirty-fold
  MOT   58.5625 +4.81%  increase of performance, according to Motorola.
  International
  Business Machine      The chip will be able to use a total of 162 new
  Corporation           instructions for manipulating data.

  IBM  120.8750 +1.04%  "We committed to support for AltiVec in our compiler
  For more details, go  technology," said Greg Galanos, president and CTO of
  to NEWS.COM           Metrowerks, a supplier of developer tools for a
  Investor.             number of computer platforms, including the Mac
                        operating system.

In some instances, applications would automatically use AltiVec instructions
when using functions intrinsic to the Mac OS, such as QuickTime. In others,
Metrowerks' software compiler will be able to automatically generate program
instructions, saving time for developers, Galanos said.

Chips using the AltiVec technology are expected to be available in the first
half of 1999.

While Apple will aggressively roll out systems with AltiVec, one of its
partners in PowerPC development will be more cautious.

An IBM representative said it will not initially offer chips with the
technology, which is also known as VMX, but that later it would reevaluate
its business decision based on demand.

IBM is expected to focus primarily on rolling out faster chips because these
chips can also be used in its PowerPC-based servers and workstations.
Meanwhile, Motorola is aggressively pushing AltiVec not only in the desktop
chip market, but also the embedded market, where the chips would be used in
network routers and other devices.


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