Features, Functions, and Benefits

Binary Compatibility

Executes application binary code running on all previous SPARC implementations.

Easy migration between current and future UltraSPARC processor-based systems. Maintaining compatibility protects customers' long-term application investments. More than 15 years of binary compatibility.

Uptime Bus, error removal and recovery, ECC (error correction code) on every external data interface.

Uptime Bus provides a means to diagnose system bus errors when the main bus cannot be accessed. ECC helps ensure the integrity of all stored and transmitted data. Error removal and recovery uniquely marks copyback errors so they cannot propagate through a multiprocessor system.

Provides error containment and removable capabilities for multiprocessing systems and system reliability. Improves uptime, and diagnostics capabilities and the overall reliability of the system.

On-chip memory controller, capable of addressing up to 16 GB of main memory at 2.4 Gbps. The Sun Fireplane Interconnect running at 150 MHz provides the system bus interface.

Each CPU added to the system increases the available system memory. Sun's Fireplane Interconnect is capable of supporting over 1000 CPUs/system.

System memory bandwith seamlesly scales with the number or processors, maintaining an almost linear increase in compute power and thereby keeping the total cost of ownership low of capacity needs increase.

64-bit data addressing, four-way superscalar, 14 stage non-stalling pipeline, speculative execution, on-chip memory controller and L2 tags, up to 8 MB external L2 cache, advanced process technology including copper interconnects, low-k interlayer dialectric.

Enables the processor, applications, and operating systems to utilize larger amounts of physical memory, lower memory latencies, improve signalling, and reduce power consumption. VIS Instruction Set allows for easy manipulation of graphical and networking data.

New architectural features designed to improve overall system performance on an application level.