"... and by favourable comments from users, this has turned out to be a popular family. Users are said to like the way it handles large memory-address space without segmentation. [3]".
68quad - Project Description
Goal
The basic goal of the 68quad project is to create an Open Source definition of a high performance Microprocessor Architecture. The 68k architecture created by Motorola was the most ambitious design of 1981. But the latest version was the 68060 (a superscalar pipelined 32 bit processor with up to 110MIPs) introduced about 1992. Then, Motorola apparently stopped development of this product line in favour of the IBM/Apple/Motorola PowerPC architecture.
In the 80ies, software in the Macintosh and UNIX enviroment was mainly available for the 68k architecture but since then most of these systems were ported to RISC architectures. Therefore, the 68k architecture is be the best candidate for revival in an Open Source project, as it is well known, general purpose but currently not continued.
In the last years, other silicon vendors (Intel Merced, HP PA, MIPS, DEC alpha, ...) have extended their architecures to 64 bit to extend the directly (and therefore fast) addressable memory range and integer processing power especially for server applications. As the 68k floating point architecture already defines 64 bit (double) and 80 bit (extended) precision, the 68quad is targeted to have 64 bit and 80 bit integer operands as well to make the architecture more homogenous.
Therefore, the goals of 68quad project are:
- define a 64 bit (or 80 bit) upwards compatible API for the 68k architecture
- extend the Mac06 (http://www.dsitri.de/projects/mac06/mac06.html) assembler and C compiler to create 68quad code
- write a simulator demonstrating the pipeline architecture
- provide enough information for independent silicon designers to create 68quad compatible chips
- port Linux/m68k to 68quad
Project Status
- The project is hosted by DSITRI. The most recent work is available on http://www.dsitri.de/projects/68quad
- A first draft of the mnemonics required in addition to the 68k (68040) instruction set is available.
- A first idea of a pipeline architecture is available.
- First source code of the simulator is available.
Download from Server (needs Macintosh and StuffIt Expander).
Licence
The project is put under the GPL (GNU Free Documentation Licence).
Your participation
Please send comments, updates, notes, ideas, support to: 68quad@dsitri.de
or comment on the Discussion Forum.
Some Useful Literature
- [1] MC68020 User's Manual, MOTOROLA, MC68020UM/AD, 1985, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-566860-3
- [2] MC68881 User's Manual, MOTOROLA, MC68881UM/AD, 1985
- [3] EDN's Eighth Annual µP/µC Chip Directory, EDN, November 1981, p188
- [4] 4th Generation 64-bit PowerPC-Compatible Commercial Processor Design, John Borkenhagen, IBM, 1999
- [5] Designing an Alpha Microprocessor, Matt Reilly, IEEE Computer Magazine, July 1999, p27-34
- [6] The IA-64 Architecture at Work, Carole Dulong, IEEE Computer Magazine, July 1998, p24-32
- [7] The 100-million transistor IC, Linda Geppert, IEEE Sectrum, July 1999, p22-24
- [8] Superspeculative Microarchitecture for Beyond AD2000, IEEE Computer Magazine, September, 1997, p59-66
- [9] Hands-on Computer Architecure - Teaching Processor and Integrated Systems Design with FPGAs, Jan Gray, IEEE Computer Architecture TC Newsletter, Sept. 2000, p90-97
- [10] Mikroprozessoren - Stand der Technik und Forschungstrends, Theo Ungerer, Informatik Spektrum, 24.2.2001, p3-15
HNS/DSITRI, 04. Aug 2001