P R E S S R E L E A S E For Additional Information For Immediate Release Dr. George Nicol 4l5-322-8763 Silicon Composers Announces the 30 MIPS PC-RISC SYSTEM FOR IBM PCs " P C M I N I - S U P E R C O M P U T E R K I T " Palo Alto, California--May 4, 1987--Silicon Composers announces the PC-RISC System for PCs, a new addition to its recently released PC4000 family of ultra-fast coprocessor boards for the IBM PC, XT and AT computers and 100% compatibles. The heart of the PC-RISC System is the PC4000 coprocessor board which delivers speeds in the range of 4 to 6 MIPS (millions of instructions per second), more than twice the speed of a VAX 11/780 or an HP 9000. By using multiple PC4000 parallel processors, a three megabyte PC-RISC System which delivers 30 MIPS of speed in a concurrent parallel processing environment can be configured in the comfort of your PC. The PC-RISC System software, PCX, provides a convenient environment for developing and running software as well as communicating between the PC and the PC4000s. The host PC/XT or AT is used primarily as an I/O server to the PC-RISC System although it too can be used concurrently. Each PC4000 coprocessor is a compact 3/4 length board with a half megabyte of memory of which 16K bytes is shared with the PC for data transfer and communications. All software is up-loaded from the PC. More (Y),N,NS? The high speed of the PC4000 is possible using the Novix NC4016 RISC Engine which is, according to Novix Inc., "the world's fastest 16 bit microprocessor." The NC4016 is the first microprocessor to use gate-array technology in a 4000-gate, 3-micron HCMOS package. The NC4016 gains remarkable speed by using a RISC-like parallel architecture. Most high level language instructions execute in a single clock cycle and up to five instructions can be combined and executed in parallel in a single clock cycle--unlike traditional CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) oriented chips. With the new PC-RISC System from Silicon Composers, application programs coded in the high-level languages C or Forth run faster than their counterparts written in assembler language on any of the popular micros. The PC4000 is the only PC board level product available using the NC4016 RISC microprocessor. According to George Nicol, PhD, President of Silicon Composers: "A six- board PC4000 PC-RISC System embedded in an PC can provide the speed of a mini- supercomputer to give the user the greatest cost/ performance bargain available -- $300 per MIP. An $8970 six board 30 MIP PC-RISC System can be used to support a single application, or each board can run a separate application. One of our customers is now using a three board PC-RISC System to support a commercial color graphics application. Users can start with a single PC4000 board PC-RISC System and add incrementally as many PC4000 concurrent coprocessors as needed for their application." PC-RISC SYSTEM More (Y),N,NS? "PC MINI-SUPERCOMPUTER KIT" Introductory Price 1 Coprocessor -- 4 MIPS $1,295 1 Coprocessor -- 5 MIPS $1,495 3 Coprocessors -- 15 MIPS $4,250 6 Coprocessors -- 30 MIPS $8,250 OEM pricing available. THE PC-RISC SYSTEM PC4000 BOARD FEATURES: * Multiple PC4000s (up to six) can plug into the PC. * Use PC as I/O server -- load/store programs and data from PC, no on board PROM, PC4000 has direct memory access to PC disks, I/O, or memory-to-memory transfers. * Read/write to any PC memory location. Move data from any PC4000 coprocessor to any other. * PC4000 shares bus and a minimum of 16K bytes of memory with the PC for communications and data transport. * PCX concurrent multi-PC4000 board software includes development system and a fast full-featured screen editor. * Direct PCX-editor/PC4000 switching for convenient fast software development turnaround with 512k RAM disk. * 512K bytes on-board 256Kx18 bit, parity checked DRAM. * PC4000 memory can be used for expanding PC memory More (Y),N,NS? space by either 128K, 384K, or 512K bytes. * Four 112K byte banks of PC4000 memory selectable using the NC4016 X2 and X3 lines. * 512 byte stacks on each PC4000 coprocessor. * PC4000 can generate interrupts to the PC using any of 6 jumper selectable PC interrupts. * READY line on PC4000 suspends PC when NC4016 and PC access same memory simultaneously -- when coprocessor is idle, PC runs at full speed. * Microprocessor resets at startup and begins operation within one clock cycle under control of the PC. * 40-pin user port includes: 16-bit B-port, 5-bit X-port, WEB, +/-5 volts, +/- 12 volts, 5 grounds, BR/W, D0-D4, NC4016 interrupt, clock and reset. * CPU LIF socket for NC5000 upgrades. * Includes PCX communications software for multiple or single PC4000 board operation. * Includes an interactive public domain Forth development system with optimizing compiler, editor, and utilities. NC4016 RISC ENGINE FEATURES: * 16-bit high speed (200/250 nanosecond cycles), HCMOS single-chip microprocessor with simultaneous access of return stack, data stack, More (Y),N,NS? main memory and I/O bus, concurrent with operation of ALU and shifters. * Fully static operation permits very low power consumption for battery powered applications. * Direct execution of most FORTH primitives in a single machine cycle -- no internal microcode -- multiple instruction single cycle execution. * One-cycle subroutine call with mostly zero-cycle returns, one cycle structured IF, ELSE, NEXT instructions, one cycle fetch and store from local memory, and one cycle generation of a logical true (hex FFFF). * Multiplication, division, and square-root step instructions. * TIMES instruction allows any instruction, including auto- increment/decrement memory access, to repeat once per cycle. * Supports 64K 16 bit word memory with X-port for memory paging. * 257- element 16-bit hardware return stack with the top element in an on-chip register and 258-element 16-bit hardware data stack with top two elements in on-chip registers. * Two versatile I/O ports, one 16 bits wide and one 5 bits wide, both bi-directional, maskable, auto-comparable, and programmable for either latched or tri-state output. SOFTWARE: Available software for the PC4000 includes SCForth, Delta-C, cmForth, and PCX. SCForth, based on the popular Forth 83-Standard, is an More (Y),N,NS? easy-to-learn development language for building applications. Delta-C is an extended Small-C language for compiling C code into NC4016 executable code. cmForth is a non-standard, compact, public domain Forth language used by many NC4016 programmers. PCX, provided with the PC-RISC System, is an MSDOS based software system used for systems communication and data transport and software development. PCX can be used for single or multiboard operation. BENCHMARKS: The Sieve of Eratosthenes is a popular and often quoted benchmark which measures the execution time of a program that calculates the first 1899 primes. The IBM PC using Forth takes 7.0 seconds to execute the Sieve. The Silicon Composers' PC4000 runs the Sieve in an incredible 0.07 seconds, 10,000% faster than on the PC, over 20,000% times faster than Turbo Pascal on the PC, and over 200,000% times faster than PC-BASIC. Delta-C completes the Sieve benchmark on the PC4000 in 0.32 seconds, 3200% faster than C on the IBM PC. The PC-RISC system can produce a 100-loop CGA Mandelbrot screen image in under 35 seconds. DELIVERY: Each Silicon Composers' PC-RISC System comes fully tested and assembled, ready to install, with User Manual and 90 day warranty. Each system is bundled with PCX and Silicon Composers provides a 24 hour bulletin board for customer support. Delivery is 2 weeks ARO from stock. OEM pricing is available.