IBM POWER

POWER is a family of Processeur S with architecture RISC built by IBM. The name is the Acronyme of P erformance O ptimization W ith E nhanced R ISC . Processors POWER are used in waiters and work stations of IBM like in some Supercalculateur S. architecture PowerPC, used mainly in the work stations IBM, the Ordinateur S Apple and the game consoles of last generation, derives from architecture POWER.

Descending directly from the processors 801, the POWER belongs to the second generation of processors RISC. It was introduced in 1990 into the work stations RISC System and 6000 UNIX of IBM. Contrary to the 801 with very simple architecture (only one instruction per cycle, not of Unit of floating-point calculation nor of architecture Superscalaire), architecture POWER is very complex with more than 100 Instruction S different.

The POWER2

Launched in 1993 and marketed until in 1998, POWER2 integrated 15 million transistors. It had a second Unité of floating-point calculation and more mask. Architecture POWER2 integrated 8 chips by Mother chart.

The implementation single processor PSSC of the POWER2 was used for the supercomputer Deep Blue which beat in 1997 with the failures the world champion Garry Kasparov.

The POWER3

POWER3 was launched in 1998. It integrated also 15 million transistors per chip, but was the first to set up an architecture 64 Bit S SMP ( Symmetric MultiProcessor ). It was completely compatible with the instruction set of the first POWER. It was intended for the scientific computation as in the field of the Aérospatiale or weather forecasting. POWER3-II was twice more powerful than the POWER3.

The POWER4

Launched in 2001, POWER4 has 174 million Transistor S by processor. It is a processor multi heart with 64 bits. It is engraved in technology ONESELF ( Silicon One Insulator ) with a smoothness of 0,18 Micromètre S. It inherits all the characteristics of the POWER3, in particular compatibility with the instruction set PowerPC, and is added to it compatibility with PowerPC ACE of AS/400. Each processor integrates two cores 64 bit given rhythm into 1 GHz or more, and can carry out 200 instructions simultaneously. The POWER4+ , or POWER4-II , is an evolution of the POWER4: it functions at higher frequencies and consumes less energy.

The PowerPC 970 (or G5), used by Apple in its Macintosh drift of the POWER4.

The POWER5

Launched in June 2004, POWER5 is given rhythm up to 1,9 GHz. Twice more powerful than the POWER4, it was by far the fastest processor at its time. The version with 1,9 GHz obtained the score highest ever carried out for a chip single processor with the SPECfp test. It is about a chip dual-core having 276 million transistors thanks to an engraving with 130 nanometers. It is equipped with a L2 mask of 1,88 Mo and with a mask L3 off-chip of 36 Mo. POWER5+ is an evolution of the POWER5 which consumes less energy because of a more important intricacy of engraving: 90 nanometers. The frequencies go from 1,5 to 2,3 GHz. There exists also a version Quad-core (2 processors dual-core on same a die).

The POWER6

The exit of POWER6 is envisaged during 2007. It will be engraved in technology 65nm and will be given rhythm to 3,5.4,2 and 4,7 GHz, that is to say a doubling of frequency compared to the POWER5+, for a consumption and an identical thermal dissipation. It represents a major exit since the passage of the POWER3 with the POWER4, by its innovations. It is in particular equipped with the device VIVA-2, which makes it possible to make function several POWER6 like only one processor. Equipped with a dual-core, each heart will be equipped with a vectorial unit VMX and with a L2 mask.

Some characteristics:

  1. Technology 65 Nm

  2. Dual-core + double thread
  3. 2 X 64 KB of mask L1D
  4. 2 X 4 Mo of mask L2
  5. 32 Mo of mask L3
  6. total Band-width of 300 Go/s
  7. Support hardware of the decimal binary-coded (BCD)
  8. Support Altivec
  9. Topology of the bus system improved
  10. Correction of errors of an unequalled level
  11. Package MCAS which groups 4 Power6 on only one socket

The POWER7

The successor of Power6 is envisaged in the road-map IBM, it should have an engraving of 45nm.

External bond

  • Power.org, the consortium created by IBM to promote architecture Power

  • Preview of the POWER6 on RWT

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