Sun Unveils Sparc Roadmap

Electronic News, Sept 7, 1998 by Jim DeTar

Sun said it plans to boost the UltraSparc architecture to a blazing 1.5GHz by the year 2002, at which time the company's line is expected to be manufactured on 0.13-micron geometries by Texas Instruments and its other manufacturing partners.

1.5GHz By 2002

This roadmap for Sun's three series of 64-bit UltraSparc MPUs provides a detailed overview of the future processor performance which is expected to continue ramping while the MPUs maintain binary compatibility with earlier versions of UltraSparc. In the roadmap, the future UltraSparc V is estimated to reach 1.5GHz early in the year 2002.

Anant Agrawal, Sun VP of engineering, said that, by 2002, Sun's Sparc processors would be at 4x the current speed level and 8x the current performance level. "Sun is committed to Sparc for the long term; our roadmap shows that," Mr. Agrawal said.

"We are a $10 billion company today. Sparc has been the key contributor to this growth. Sparc is rapidly transitioning from an alternative to the choice for enterprise computing. Sparc stands for Scalable Processor ARChitecture," Mr. Agrawal noted. "It is just that; a binary compatible architecture that scales from $8 chips for camera to enterprise 10000 class systems. And today we announced our roadmap through the year 2002."

Because Sun has emphasized TI as its primary manufacturing partner recently, Mr. Agrawal was asked about the company's relationship with another foundry partner, Fujitsu which made the aging MicroSparc for Sun; whether that relationship will continue going forward as Sun replaces MicroSparc.

"Regarding MicroSparc II, it's true we are no longer making investments in 32-megabit microprocessors. Our whole line is moving to 64-megabit." Essentially, the unannounced UltraSparc E-300 will replace MicroSparc, Mr. Agrawal said. "As we announce this product we will be able to talk about how we are bringing the power down, and using more standard interfaces in the embedded space. For MicroSparc we used LSI Logic and Fujitsu. In the "S" series we used TI. On the "E" series we have not announced a partnership yet," he added.

Slow Move To Copper

Regarding the industry's move to copper chips, Mr. Agrawal commented, "We have worked with TI on the low key dielectric process first. As a result of working on low key dielectric we were able to reduce the capacitance. This has the same effect (as moving to copper). By the time we get to UltraSparc IV we will use both copper and low key dielectric and we will be at 0.18-micron."

With the phasing out of the UltraSparc IIEp, a question arises as to what MPU the company will designate for the JavaStation. Mr. Agrawal was noncommittal, saying "I can't comment on future system product plans." He noted that it's generally about a year before new UltraSparc chips show up in systems that are shipping. "It takes 12 months in the "S" series and, in the "E" series it could be lower than that."

Mel Friedman, president of Sun Microsystems' Microelectronics Division, commented, "The SPARC architecture is central to Sun's success and we are committed to providing systematic performance improvements with this architecture. Our SPARC roadmap stakes our claim of performance leadership today and in the future."

Sun's UltraSparc processor roadmap includes all three lines of the UltraSparc family. The first line is the scalable or "S" series, which is designed to provide products for scalable workstations and servers. For the "S" series, the roadmap shows 480MHz UltraSparc IIs microprocessors shipping in 1999. For the UltraSparc IIIs, it lists 600MHz and 750MHz versions, as well as a 1GHz versions of the UltraSparc IVs. Early in 2002, Sun expects the UltraSparc Vs to be available at 1.5 GHz.

The integrated or "I" series integrates many system functions onto the processor and provides a cost-effective offering for single processor systems. For the "I" series, the roadmap discloses 400MHz, 440MHz and 480MHz versions of the UltraSparc IIi shipping in 1999. Additionally, it shows the plans for 600MHz and 700MHz versions of the UltraSparc IIIi. In 2001, it also lists the UltraSparc IVi at 1GHz.

The embedded or "E" series processors provide a price-performance point for embedded applications that need the performance of UltraSparc such as thin clients, as well as network interface, control and line cards. For the "E" series processors, 300MHz, 400MHz and 500MHz versions are disclosed.

Sun's development strategy to achieve this roadmap consists of a sophisticated risk management system that protects customer investments in the Sparc architecture. In its processor development plan, Sun uses its odd numbered generations (UltraSparc I, UltraSparc III and UltraSparc V) to develop new architecture pipelines and its even numbered generations to upgrade process technology. As a result, the 0.18 process technology that the initial UltraSparc III processors will use will be proven on the UltraSparc II processor.

Throughout this roadmap, Sun maintains binary compatibility across the entire UltraSparc line.