A G3 PowerPC/sup TM/ superscalar low-power microprocessor

Abstract

This microprocessor is a third-generation PowerPC microprocessor and is a member of the the G3 family of PowerPC processor products. Although its high performance (estimated at 10.0 SPECint95) makes it suited for high-end desktop systems, its low typical power dissipation of 5W and size of 66.5 mm/sup 2/ make it very attractive for portable systems as well. This microprocessor is a dual-issue superscalar machine with a four-stage pipeline, separate instruction- and data-side L1 caches (32 kBytes each), and full tags and support for up to 1 MByte of back-side L2. A thermal assist unit and I-cache throttling feature are included in the microprocessor as additional tools for thermal management. This microprocessor was designed in a 0.25-/spl mu/m CMOS process (0.18-/spl mu/m Leff) to operate at a frequency of 250 MHz.