goodwin@ncr-tp.UUCP (Tom Goodwin) (02/19/85)
I got quite a few requests for more information about the NCR-32
chip set, so I'll summarize a bit from the data book and include
a marketing contact for those further interested.
NCR 32-000
Central Processor Chip (CPC)
The CPC is designed to be externally microprogrammed, with up to
128k of microinstructions directly executable at any one time. It
is possible, but a complex task, to build a system which directly
executes microcode from the large address space needed for a modern
system (the Celerity system is an example). More typical applications
might be as a fast control system, emulator for another instruction
set, or a co-processor for specific functions.
The CPC uses a three-stage pipeline for execution. Instructions
are fetched through the 16-bit ISU(Instruction Storage Unit) bus.
About 95% of instructions execute in one cycle and are RR type format.
Data is accessed through a separate 32-bit PM(Processor-Memory) bus.
The chips originally ran at 150ns cycle time and now are available
at 125ns. There are 179 microinstructions doing digit, byte, halfword
and word operations on 16 general-purpose registers. There is also
special hardware for op-code cracking in an emulation system (for IBM
370 and NCR instruction sets). Lot's of other stuff that I don't have
the time to describe now, but definitely not an ordinary looking
chip; using it requires some carefull thought and design.
There is also the 32-010 ATC(Address Translation Chip) which sits on
the PM bus and provides virtual address translation, ECC, memory refresh,
clock and other functions for 1k, 2k, or 4k page size memory. There are
other support chips for i/o interface.
The NCR-32 is available as a chip set, or on a multibus board for use
as a co-processor or development system. For details contact NCR marketing
at the Colorado Springs microelectronics division. I got the following
contact points.
Jim Nickerson or
Susan Mason
NCR Marketing (800) 525-2252
I tried to make this as accurate as possible, but this is only my
personal information, not a company statement.
Tom Goodwin