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To: J R KARY who wrote (24811)	5/13/1999 5:37:00 PM
From: Richard Habib	Respond to of 213177

Here is an article on Book E with more info regarding Altivec. Altivec may be considered an APU within the Book E framework and IBM is still considering adding Altivec to one of its PPC designs. The future of Power PC and 'Book E' by Dennis Sellers, dsellers@maccentral.com May 13, 1999, 1:15 pm ET Yesterday we mentioned that MacCentral had been told that Motorola and IBM would make the Power PC modular so that different parts, like AltiVec, can be easily added. Since then several alert readers have pointed us to the sources of this information. A May 7 EE Times story reported that Motorola and IBM had announced Book E, a jointly written architectural definition and instruction set for embedded 64-bit PowerPC implementations. "Book E may give Motorola and IBM a way to present a common front in both the embedded and desktop sectors," the story said. "It will build a foundation under system-on-a-chip designs that might incorporate intellectual property (IP) cores sourced from commercial IP vendors, or from the core libraries now under construction at both IBM and Motorola. Over the next year both companies will come out with next-generation PowerPC controllers that adhere to the Book E definition, and will work to ensure that tool vendors create a common software-development environment. The companies also will offer PowerPC licenses to customers and foundries that want a wider number of sources for high-volume designs." At last week's Embedded Processor Forum, Tom Sartorius, an IBM Microelectronics engineer, said Book E includes 84 new instructions for 64-bit addressing and other extensions, according to EE Times. The Book E architecture is compatible with 32-bit code written for existing PowerPC implementations. "Moreover, Book E defines ways that application-specific processing units (APUs) can be linked to a PowerPC processing core," says EE Times' report. "The AltiVec PowerPC vector processing unit and instructions would be considered an APU under the Book E definition." Asked whether IBM will develop a PowerPC that includes an AltiVec coprocessor, Elliott Newcombe, PowerPC product marketing manager at IBM's Research Triangle Park facility, told EE Times that IBM is considering adding an AltiVec APU to one of IBM's designs. Will Swearingen, the PowerPC marketing manager in Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector, told EE Times that Book E and the ability to link APUs will fit Motorola's goal of bringing more of its internal IP library to the PowerPC space. Book E, the APU link, as well as the licensing and user-definable op codes, will bring the PowerPC to a new level of flexibility, he said. "IBM's decision last year to withdraw from the Somerset design center in Austin, Texas furthered the perception that the PowerPC architecture might diverge," reported EE Times. "To counter that, a Book E development group was set up last year to draw a 64-bit architecture that would provide compatibility with 32-bit designs." A May 5 IBM/Motorola joint press release said the two companies are disclosing details of an enhanced PowerPC microprocessor architecture designed to expand the use of the processor in embedded applications such as networking infrastructure and telecommunications solutions. The new architecture, developed by both companies in the aforementioned collaborative project code named "Book E," is intended to provide customers greater consistency between the two companies' embedded PowerPC implementations while allowing for maximum flexibility in design to adapt the processor for new applications. The new architecture is also designed to maintain software compatibility with existing PowerPC generations. This combination of enhancements can provide customers with faster time-to-market, higher performance, and lower costs for a wide range of electronic products. "PowerPC microprocessors are becoming the processors of choice under the covers of more and more types of electronic products," said Newcombe in the press release. "We believe our work with Motorola will assure a major role for the architecture as the foundation for an even broader set of applications." Since 1991, IBM and Motorola have collaborated on the PowerPC architecture for personal computers, workstations, servers and embedded processor product lines, yet have developed and marketed separate implementations. Driven by the tremendous success of PowerPC microprocessors in the embedded marketplace, the companies announced in September 1997 the start of a joint effort to further enhance the PowerPC architecture to ensure greater consistency in their future embedded products. The Book E project and the new architecture it defines is the result of that effort. "A clearly defined core architecture for future products from both companies, combined with extraordinary flexibility in individual processor implementations, assures our customers of a long term PowerPC roadmap offering both compatibility and a wide range of application specific products," Swearingen said in the release. "Motorola and IBM are making Book E a premier architecture for high-performance and cost-effective applications." For more info on Book E go to motorola.com and chips.ibm.com.