[98] in bcs-newton
ARM 610 info from magazines....
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Brian Skidmore)
Thu Apr 22 14:47:07 1993
Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 14:46:41 -0400
From: skidmore@ns1.harvard.edu (Brian Skidmore)
To: bcs-newton@world.std.com
Cc: skidmore@ns1.harvard.edu
I thought some of you Newton tech types might like to have some info on
the ARM chip, from some different sources (i.e. NOT MacWeek).
Brian Skidmore
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Byte July 1992 v17 n7 p134(1).
Apple ARMs itself. (Advanced RISC Machines 610
microprocessor used in Apple Newton personal digital
assistant) (Cover Story)
by Redfern, Andy
Abstract
Apple has chosen the Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) 610, a powerful
reduced-instruction-set-computing (RISC) microprocessor made by
Advanced RISC Machines Ltd of Cambridge, England, as the CPU for its
upcoming Newton personal digital assistant. The ARM 610 is a macro
cell with only 33,494 transistors. It is a full 32-bit processor with 31
registers; 17 of the registers can be customized by software. The chip
uses a three-stage pipeline and gives systems developers complete
design flexibility because much of its silicon area is free for custom
design. Apple adds a 4Kbyte cache, a memory management unit (MMU)
and a write buffer for the Newton. One of the core technologies of the
ARM 610 is memory permission access. Memory controlled by the
processor is divided into 'domains' in which client objects can be
created and prevented from manipulating other objects except with
'permission' from the program managing the domain. This technology is
necessary to the development of a truly object-oriented operating
system, as is persistence. The MMU performs 'garbage collection' to free
heap memory when it is full. ARM engineers worked closely with Apple
software designers to create the level of hardware support needed by
the software.
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Electronics July 27 1992 v65 n8 p23(1).
ARM: 'Europe's RISC success.' (Advanced RISC Machines Ltd.
does well in the fast-growing reduced-instruction-set computer
processor market)
by Rosenbaum, Andrew
Abstract
Advanced RISC Machines (ARM) has been successful in developing
microprocessors for reduced-instruction-set computer (RISC) market
which is the fastest growing in the computer industry. ARM is only one
of a few European firms who have done well in the semiconductor
business. Its small size makes it easy for it to respond quickly to
customer needs. The company achieved a major boost to acceptance of
its RISC technology when Apple, which owns about 30 percent of the
company, chose ARM's 610 RISC processor for its Newton portable
computer and communications device. Before the announcement, more
than 350,000 of its RISC processors had been sold, half to computer
markets and half to telecommunications. ARM's RISC processors are
well-suited for portable applications because of their low power
demands. They are also perform well as a single cell in application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC) modules.
-----------------------------------
PC Week June 22 1992 v9 n25 p232(1)
English firm to play key role in PDA market. (personal digital
assistants) (Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. developed chip set
for Apple's hand-held computer)
by Arneberg, Marianne
For nearly two years, Advanced RISC Machines Ltd. toiled quietly abroad
designing low-power, high-performance chip sets. But last month
things changed.
The Cambridge, England, firm, which has about 30 employees, suddenly
came of age when Apple Computer Inc. Chairman and CEO John Sculley
unveiled the long-awaited personal digital assistant (PDA) and the
brains behind it -- a RISC microprocessor developed by ARM.
Since then, executives at the fledgling firm have been circling the globe
trying to market the tiny, low-cost piece of silicon to other computer
makers in hopes it will become more ubiquitous than the Intel Corp.
microprocessor.
And if Sculley's predictions of a megamarket when multimedia,
telecommunications and the computer industry converge in the next
decade are correct, ARM may indeed be well-positioned.
"If Apple is successful with its consumer electronics division, [ARM]
should be very, very successful," said Michael Slater, editor of The
Microprocessor Report, a newsletter in Sebastopol, Calif.
ARM is an offshoot of Acorn Computer plc., also of Cambridge, which for
years has developed and sold desktop computers in the English
educational market using its own small, low-power, high-performance
chip.
Apple became involved with ARM after Larry Tesler, vice president of
Advanced Products for Apple, started shopping for a PDA
microprocessor, settling on Acorn technology because of its low power,
high performance and low cost, said Frank O'Mahony, corporate relations
manager at Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif.
But fearful of buying from a competitor, Apple persuaded Acorn to form
a separate company in November 1990, and invested in ARM as a 30
percent partner.
VLSI Technology Inc., a San Jose, Calif., company that manufactures ARM
chips and is negotiating a technology-sharing agreement with Intel, is
also a partner in the venture. GEC Plessey Semiconductors Ltd. of
Swindon, England, and Scotts Valley, Calif., is licensed to manufacture
the chip.
While part of Acorn, ARM produced a series of four microprocessors and
several support chips that have been used in such products as computer
peripherals, desktops and videoconferencing products. But its market
has largely been limited to Europe.
In the United States, the company has produced chips for a Radius Inc.
graphics accelerator for the Macintosh as well as for a high-resolution
IBM PC graphics board for Applied Data Systems Inc.
Biggest Project to Date
ARM embarked on its new ARM 6 family of processors after splitting
from Acorn. Designing the ARM 610 RISC chip for Apple -- a 32-bit
microprocessor that supports object-oriented programming, 4K bytes of
cache and a write buffer -- is by far the company's largest endeavor,
company officials said.
Because ARM is licensed to sell the Apple RISC chip and the ARM 6
family of technology upon which it is based, ARM officials assert that
the company is ready to take off.
"I think we're going to be a very significant player in the low-cost
consumer area," said Tim O'Donnell, vice president of North American
operations for ARM, which opened an office staffed solely by O'Donnell
in Los Gatos, Calif., in July 1991.
Officials at ARM, a privately held firm, declined to discuss details about
the company's financial status.
"Quite honestly, we're really just at the introduction stage of our
product," O'Donnell said. "We did significantly better than our business
plan, but I wouldn't call it outstanding growth. We're just kind of
getting our feet on the ground right now."
ARM may be one of the first companies with a PDA processor, but it is
not alone. There is likely to be stiff competition in this market.
AT&T Microelectronics has a similar chip, the Hobbitt, that sources said
is being used by companies developing PDA-type products, such as Go
Corp. of Foster City, Calif., and Eo Corp. of Mountain View, Calif.
"Everybody's going to be out there with these low-power chips" should
the PDA market explode in the next decade, said Bruce Lupatkin, manager
of technology for Hambrecht & Quist, a San Francisco investment bank.
