PowerPC Chips Rev Up Network Communications

Designed to improve communications and computing across the Internet, the company's new PowerPC products include stand-alone processors and complete systems-on-a-chip that combine embedded PowerPC processors with other required functions onto a single chip. These chips can be used in applications ranging from networking equipment that carries Internet traffic and other devices used to access the Internet. The PowerPC 750CX and 750CXe microprocessors range in speeds from 350 to 700 MHz. They use the company's 0.18-µm copper wiring technology and incorporate 256 KB of high-speed L2 cache. Three other devices in the group integrate a PowerPC processor, the company's CoreConnect on-chip bus architecture, and additional functions normally requiring separate chips. These include the PowerPC 440GP running at 400 to 500 MHz with up to 900 MIPS performance. This device integrates a PCI-X bridge, DDR SDRAM controller, 128-bit on-chip CoreConnect bus, on-chip SRAM, superscalar 440 core, and two Ethernet ports on a single die. Based on 10K quantities, pricing is $77 for the PowerPC 750CX at 400 MHz, $29.50 for the PowerPC 405GP at 200 MHz, and $23.50 for the PowerPC 405CR at 200 MHz.