Motorola Delivers Gigahertz-Class Performance for Power-Sensitive Embedded Applications

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb 10, 2003 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Newest 1.3 GHz PowerPC(R) Processors Achieve the Highest EEMBC(R) Benchmark Scores to Date in Five Application Areas The newest and fastest members of the Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) G4 family of PowerPC(R) processors, the MPC7457 and MPC7447, are now available. The devices run at speeds up to 1.3 GHz, making them the highest performing G4 host processors available for embedded applications.

The MPC7457 and MPC7447 can perform at 1 GHz while consuming less than 10 Watts, making them ideal for high-performance, power dissipation-sensitive applications such as network control plane processing.

"With the introduction of the MPC7457 processor, Motorola continues to deliver unprecedented levels of performance without breaking the power dissipation window that's critical to today's networking, telecom, and embedded system applications," said Eric Mantion, senior analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "By shipping a processor running at 1 GHz with less than 10 Watts, Motorola is providing a family of processors that will fit equally well in the nascent market of blade servers and the mature control plane board market -- where the PowerPC instruction set architecture already dominates. This will give Motorola's new products both a stable market to depend on and a rapidly ascending market with which to grow - especially given both the security concerns and entertainment desires that will be prevalent for the next several years."

The MPC7457 and MPC7447 provide industry-leading 32-bit RISC performance in concert with highly efficient power consumption across virtually all clock speeds. These newest PowerPC processors offer original equipment manufacturers a best-in-class solution for a wide range of host processing applications, including high- performance network infrastructure, telecommunications switching equipment, and state-of-the art medical and industrial imaging systems.

"With 1 GHz capability and an optimized low-power envelope, the introduction of Motorola's MPC7457 and MPC7447 processors allows us to extend our PowerPMC family of PowerPC modules to support the needs of developers with ever more cutting-edge embedded computing solutions," said Jagat Acharya, Force Computers' corporate director of product marketing and engineering, Fremont/Irvine Design Centers. "These new devices also support other critical requirements of today's telecom and datacom designs, such as the need for twice the amount of on-chip L2 cache compared to previous G4 architectures, as well as performance-enhancing features like AltiVec(TM) technology and SMP support."

"Motorola is clearly taking its G4 family of PowerPC processors to the next level of speed and performance with the introduction of the 1.3 GHz MPC7447 processor," said Felix Diaz, vice president and general manager of the Telecom Products Group, Interphase Corporation. "We look forward to the MPC7447 processor to boost system-level performance in next-generation telecom and enterprise solutions. These new G4 processors also provide the low power dissipation that is required for many embedded designs."

Top Scores on EEMBC(R) Benchmarks

Motorola has benchmarked its 1.3 GHz MPC7447 processor in five different application areas using Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium's (EEMBC) out-of-the-box certification type: automotive/industrial, consumer, office automation, networking, and telecommunications.

The MPC7447 achieved the highest benchmark scores to date in EEMBC's five application areas:

-- Automotive/Industrial: 1128.8
-- Consumer: 172.2
-- Office Automation: 1531.2
-- Networking: 39.5
-- Telecommunications: 37.7

"Previously, the highest performing embedded processor, according to EEMBC benchmarks, was our award-winning MPC7455 processor. With today's introduction and the certified MPC7447 EEMBC scores, we have again raised the high performance embedded processing bar," stated Bill Dunnigan, corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola's Computing Platform Division. "Motorola continues to deliver higher performance and a footprint-compatible migration path that preserves our customers' architectural investments without sacrificing power consumption."

Features Designed to Optimize Embedded Performance
Offered in a 483-pin ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package, the MPC7457 processor is footprint-compatible with Motorola's award- winning MPC7455 processor, providing an easy migration path for OEMs seeking higher performance for their new or existing PowerPC processor-based applications. The MPC7457 is designed to reach speeds of 1.3 GHz with a core voltage of 1.3V and includes 512KB of on-chip L2 cache (a 2X increase over the MPC7455's L2 cache), with support for up to 2MB of backside L3 cache.

The MPC7447 processor delivers the same performance and features as the MPC7457, except that it does not provide backside L3 cache support. The MPC7447 is footprint-compatible with Motorola's MPC7445 device and is available in a 360-pin CBGA package, an ideal choice for space-constrained applications requiring a smaller embedded CPU footprint. Lower-power versions of the MPC7457 and MPC7447 processors are available, operating at speeds of up to 1 GHz with a core voltage of 1.1V.

Both of these new devices are manufactured using Motorola's 0.13- micron HiPerMOS silicon-on-insulator copper interconnect process technology, enabling the processors to deliver superior performance over bulk CMOS technology. In addition to increased performance, SOI technology offers excellent low power capability, making the devices ideal for embedded applications in the wired and wireless telecommunications, networking, and imaging arenas.

The MPC7457 and the MPC7447 offer the following features and capabilities designed to optimize the processors' functionality in embedded applications:

* Superscalar core -- The MPC7457/47 processors feature Motorola's high- speed superscalar G4 core, capable of issuing four instructions per clock cycle (three instructions + branch) into eleven independent execution units.

* AltiVec(TM) technology -- All members of Motorola's G4 family of PowerPC processors include a full 128-bit implementation of Motorola's advanced AltiVec Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) vector processing technology. AltiVec technology allows designers to leverage existing PowerPC code and add AltiVec performance as market and customer requirements change-helping speed time-to-market and increase system performance without upgrading hardware.

* Block address translation (BAT) registers -- Both processors offer 8 instruction BAT and data BAT registers to support efficient embedded operating systems through high-speed mapping of additional large blocks of data.

* Cache locking -- The L1 caches on both processors support cache way locking, allowing key performance algorithms and code to be locked in the L1 cache.

* L3 cache support -- Continued support of the L3 cache on the MPC7457 helps ensure system compatibility for customers of Motorola's MPC745x PowerPC processor products.

* Full symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) support -- SMP capability enables customers to achieve significantly higher system performance by scaling their embedded system designs with multiple Motorola PowerPC processors.

* Application development support -- As with other members of the Motorola PowerPC processor family, the MPC7457 and MPC7447 processors are supported by an extensive suite of software and hardware development tools from Motorola's Smart Networks Alliance members.

Pricing and Availability
Alpha samples of the MPC7457 and MPC7447 PowerPC processors are available today to selected customers. General market sampling is planned for March, with production expected to commence in Q4 2003. Suggested retail pricing for the MPC7457 at 1 GHz is expected to be $189 (USD) in quantities of 10,000.

About Motorola Semiconductors
As the world's #1 producer of embedded processors, Motorola's Semiconductor Products Sector creates DigitalDNA(TM) system-on- chip solutions for a connected world. Our strong focus on wireless communications and networking enables customers to develop smarter, simpler, safer and synchronized products for the person, work team, home and automobile. Motorola's worldwide semiconductor sales were $4.8 billion (USD) in 2002. For more information please visit www.motorola.com/semiconductors

About Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 2002 were $26.7 billion. Motorola is a global corporate citizen dedicated to ethical business practices and pioneering important technologies that make things smarter and life better for people, honored traditions that began when the company was founded 75 years ago this year. For more information, please visit: www.motorola.com

The MPC7457 and the MPC7447 contain PowerPC processor cores. EEMBC benchmark scores are certified by the EEMBC Certification Labs. EEMBC benchmarks have become an industry standard for evaluating the capabilities of embedded processors and compilers according to objective, clearly-defined, application-based criteria. Complete benchmark data on all EEMBC certified processors is available on the EEMBC Web site, www.eembc.org.

MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the US Patent & Trademark Office. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. The "PowerPC" name is a trademark of IBM Corp and used under license from IBM Corp. EEMBC is a registered trademark of the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium.