G4 Chip Info clptdrag clptdrag PowerPC was the buzzword at a recent technology conference, after IBM and Motorola showcased high-performance RISC chips. The move gave the world a glimpse of technologies behind a fourth generation of PowerPC chips, called the G4 series. The engineering lobby at the IEEE International Solid State Circuit Conference in San Franciso heard presentations an a 480MHz PowerPC G3 processor and a PowerPC architecture that will run at 1, 100MHz. The prototype processor, which contains 1 million transistors, can run at three times faster than today's quickest Intel chip. Commercial date set for 2001 IBM offcials say chips running at this speed are unlikely to be commercially available before 2001. The 480-MHz G3, while still a prototype, draws on IBM's new copper-based manufacturing process. "The 1, 000=MHz is a pure demo but the copper process id for real," said Charlie Russell, IBM product manager. Sources say similar copper processors will speed PowerPC G4 processors. While the smaller, faster, 1.8 volt chips will use the basic 750 architure, the G4 processor series will also include a range of add-on vendors of embedded applications will br able to pick and choose which technologies to implement. A G4 technology - code-named Desktop 98 - will offer VMX (Video and Multimedia Extensions) enchancements to the PowerPC architecture. VMX will accelerate graphics and provide a range of traditional digital signal processing capabilities. Optimized for a range of graphics and video standards, VMX will not switch context between floating-point and DSP instructions, as does Intel's current MMX (Multimedia extensions) chip technolog. The MMX swapping can cause delays for some applications. Also on the G4 road map is Desktop 99, the code name for a technology that will roll multiple 750 processors into a single chip. Sources said the scaleable design will support symmetric multiprocessing with two or four processors and pack up a 1MB od backside level 2 cache. "There's plenty of room for cache and another processor with the 0.18-micron copper process," asource said. While both G4 technologies are set for release by the end of the year, their appearance on the desktop depends on Apple. To take advantage of the new capabilities, the company will need to modify the Mac OS and Rhapsody. Sources said a future version of QuickTime API may handle processor-level optimizations. The current Mac OS supports aymmetric multiprocessing, not the more rebust symmetric multiprocessing. They added that the G4 processors may need extra engineering for use with current Mac logicboard designs. Although he wouldn't comment on G4 technology specifics, Will Swearingen, Motorola's portfolio marketing manager, said system vendors will need to accommodate the lower voltage of copper-based chips.