Java chip maker Patriot Scientific (PTSC)& Sun Microsystems team up
Slew of Java chips on the way
By Andy Santoni
InfoWorld Electric
Posted at 4:28 PM PT, Jul 11, 1997
The latest chip maker to jump on the Java processor bandwagon is San Diego-based
Patriot Scientific with its PSC1000 CPU.
Sampling now, the CPU and Java software developed by Patriot Scientific with help
from Sun's JavaSoft operation should be available in volume in the fourth quarter,
months ahead of Sun's own microJava chip.
The PSC1000 32-bit RISC processor aims at high-volume embedded applications
such as network computers and other Internet aware devices - set-top boxes and
cable modems, for example. Running at an internal speed of 100 MHz, the processor
executes with 100 native MIPS at peak performance, according to the company. The
processor
addresses up to four gigabytes of physical memory and supports virtual memory.
Unlike Sun's upcoming picoJava CPU core and microJava chips, the PSC1000 does
not execute Java instructions directly, explained Martin McClurg, director of microchip
development at Patriot Scientific. Instead, Patriot Scientific is working with Sun's
JavaSoft
operation to develop a just-in-time compiler for the PSC1000, said McClurg.
Patriot Scientific already has a C compiler for its CPU, and the Java compiler is similar
enough that the design task is relatively easy, said McClurg. In fact, the compiler is
already "90 percent done," he said.
McClurg said that the PSC1000 will offer higher performance than a Sun Java chip,
even with compiled code, because the chip's architecture is well-suited to running Java
programs. About 38 percent of the PSC1000's operation codes are direct matches for
Java operation codes, noted McClurg, so converting from one to the other is a quick
process.
The PSC1000 combines RISC and zero-operand stack architectures, said McClurg.
Unlike other RISC chips, the CPU uses a computation stack which allows instructions
to be one byte instead of four and provides a significant advantage for stack based
languages like Java, explained McClurg. Other RISC architectures must emulate a
computation stack
with software.
For its part, Sun expects to have Java chips by the end of this year or early next year,
said Dhaval Ajmera, director of marketing for Java processors at Sun. The firm has
already shipped picoJava core information to its high-volume manufacturing partners,
who should
start introducing Java Chip products soon, he said.
"We want to flood the market with Java Chips," Ajmera said.
Along with Sun, Patriot Scientific will have to contend with a low-cost x86 competitor,
said Joe Salvador, senior marketing manager at National Semiconductor. He pointed
out that National's NS486, a $25 chip, is more than adequate for NC applications,
and that
the device has been optimized to run Java as well as C code.
Salvador also pointed out that NCs based on the NS486 can use existing x86 drivers,
speeding designs to market and cutting costs. Just as Digital has developed an NC
reference design using the StrongARM, National offers the Odin reference design using
the
NS486 and a National Ethernet chip, along with a Trident graphics controller and a
Rockwell audio system and modem.
Digital Equipment is also pitching a CPU, the StrongARM, for Java applications. (See
"Digital pitches StrongARM as NC processor of choice.")
Digital Semiconductor, a Digital Equipment Corp. business in Hudson, Mass., can be
reached at (800) 332-2717 or digital.com. National
Semiconductor Corp., in Santa Clara, Calif., can be reached at (800) 272-9959 or
national.com. Patriot Scientific Corp. can be reached at (619) 674-5000
or ptsc.com. Sun Microelectronics, a Sun Microsystems Inc. business in
Mountain View, Calif., can be reached at (800) 681-8845 or sun.com.
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