Newest 1.3 GHz PowerPC(R) Processors Achieve the Highest EEMBC(R)
Benchmark Scores to Date in Five Application Areas
The newest and fastest members of the Motorola, Inc. G4 family of PowerPC(R) processors, the MPC7457 and MPC7447, are now available. The devices run at speeds up to 1.3 GHz, making them the highest performing G4 host processors available for embedded applications.
The MPC7457 and MPC7447 can perform at 1 GHz while consuming less
than 10 Watts, making them ideal for high-performance, power
dissipation-sensitive applications such as network control plane
processing.
"With the introduction of the MPC7457 processor, Motorola
continues to deliver unprecedented levels of performance without
breaking the power dissipation window that's critical to today's
networking, telecom, and embedded system applications," said Eric
Mantion, senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "By shipping a processor
running at 1 GHz with less than 10 Watts, Motorola is providing a
family of processors that will fit equally well in the nascent
market of blade servers and the mature control plane board market
-- where the PowerPC instruction set architecture already
dominates. This will give Motorola's new products both a stable
market to depend on and a rapidly ascending market with which to
grow - especially given both the security concerns and
entertainment desires that will be prevalent for the next several
years."
The MPC7457 and MPC7447 provide industry-leading 32-bit RISC
performance in concert with highly efficient power consumption
across virtually all clock speeds. These newest PowerPC processors
offer original equipment manufacturers a best-in-class solution
for a wide range of host processing applications, including high-
performance network infrastructure, telecommunications switching
equipment, and state-of-the art medical and industrial imaging
systems.
"With 1 GHz capability and an optimized low-power envelope, the
introduction of Motorola's MPC7457 and MPC7447 processors allows
us to extend our PowerPMC family of PowerPC modules to support the
needs of developers with ever more cutting-edge embedded computing
solutions," said Jagat Acharya, Force Computers' corporate
director of product marketing and engineering, Fremont/Irvine
Design Centers. "These new devices also support other critical
requirements of today's telecom and datacom designs, such as the
need for twice the amount of on-chip L2 cache compared to previous
G4 architectures, as well as performance-enhancing features like
AltiVec(TM) technology and SMP support."
"Motorola is clearly taking its G4 family of PowerPC processors to
the next level of speed and performance with the introduction of
the 1.3 GHz MPC7447 processor," said Felix Diaz, vice president
and general manager of the Telecom Products Group, Interphase
Corporation. "We look forward to the MPC7447 processor to boost
system-level performance in next-generation telecom and enterprise
solutions. These new G4 processors also provide the low power
dissipation that is required for many embedded designs."
Top Scores on EEMBC(R) Benchmarks
Motorola has benchmarked its 1.3 GHz MPC7447 processor in five
different application areas using Embedded Microprocessor
Benchmark Consortium's (EEMBC) out-of-the-box certification type:
automotive/industrial, consumer, office automation, networking,
and telecommunications.
The MPC7447 achieved the highest benchmark scores to date in
EEMBC's five application areas:
- Automotive/Industrial: 1128.8
- Consumer: 172.2
- Office Automation: 1531.2
- Networking: 39.5
- Telecommunications: 37.7
"Previously, the highest performing embedded processor, according
to EEMBC benchmarks, was our award-winning MPC7455 processor. With
today's introduction and the certified MPC7447 EEMBC scores, we
have again raised the high performance embedded processing bar,"
stated Bill Dunnigan, corporate vice president and general manager
of Motorola's Computing Platform Division. "Motorola continues to
deliver higher performance and a footprint-compatible migration
path that preserves our customers' architectural investments
without sacrificing power consumption."
Features Designed to Optimize Embedded Performance
Offered in a 483-pin ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package, the
MPC7457 processor is footprint-compatible with Motorola's award-
winning MPC7455 processor, providing an easy migration path for
OEMs seeking higher performance for their new or existing PowerPC
processor-based applications. The MPC7457 is designed to reach
speeds of 1.3 GHz with a core voltage of 1.3V and includes 512KB
of on-chip L2 cache (a 2X increase over the MPC7455's L2 cache),
with support for up to 2MB of backside L3 cache.
The MPC7447 processor delivers the same performance and features
as the MPC7457, except that it does not provide backside L3 cache
support. The MPC7447 is footprint-compatible with Motorola's
MPC7445 device and is available in a 360-pin CBGA package, an
ideal choice for space-constrained applications requiring a
smaller embedded CPU footprint. Lower-power versions of the
MPC7457 and MPC7447 processors are available, operating at speeds
of up to 1 GHz with a core voltage of 1.1V.
Both of these new devices are manufactured using Motorola's 0.13-
micron HiPerMOS silicon-on-insulator copper interconnect process
technology, enabling the processors to deliver superior
performance over bulk CMOS technology. In addition to increased
performance, SOI technology offers excellent low power capability,
making the devices ideal for embedded applications in the wired
and wireless telecommunications, networking, and imaging arenas.
The MPC7457 and the MPC7447 offer the following features and
capabilities designed to optimize the processors' functionality in
embedded applications:
- Superscalar core -- The MPC7457/47 processors feature Motorola's
high- speed superscalar G4 core, capable of issuing four
instructions per clock cycle (three instructions + branch) into
eleven independent execution units.
- AltiVec(TM) technology -- All members of Motorola's G4 family of PowerPC processors include a full 128-bit implementation of
Motorola's advanced AltiVec Single Instruction Multiple Data
(SIMD) vector processing technology. AltiVec technology allows
designers to leverage existing PowerPC code and add AltiVec
performance as market and customer requirements change-helping
speed time-to-market and increase system performance without
upgrading hardware.
- Block address translation (BAT) registers -- Both processors offer 8 instruction BAT and data BAT registers to support
efficient embedded operating systems through high-speed mapping of
additional large blocks of data.
- Cache locking -- The L1 caches on both processors support cache way locking, allowing key performance algorithms and code to be
locked in the L1 cache.
- L3 cache support -- Continued support of the L3 cache on the MPC7457 helps ensure system compatibility for customers of
Motorola's MPC745x PowerPC processor products.
- Full symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support -- SMP capability enables customers to achieve significantly higher system
performance by scaling their embedded system designs with multiple
Motorola PowerPC processors.
- Application development support -- As with other members of the Motorola PowerPC processor family, the MPC7457 and MPC7447
processors are supported by an extensive suite of software and
hardware development tools from Motorola's Smart Networks Alliance
members.
Pricing and Availability
Alpha samples of the MPC7457 and MPC7447 PowerPC processors are
available today to selected customers. General market sampling is
planned for March, with production expected to commence in Q4
2003. Suggested retail pricing for the MPC7457 at 1 GHz is
expected to be $189 (USD) in quantities of 10,000.