PA-RISC information - since 1999

PA-RISC Processors

PA-7300LC (PCX-L2) processor

Overview

The PA-7300LC is an integrated, low-cost PA-RISC 32-bit processor, released in mid-1996 and used in many mid- to late 1990s integrated HP 9000 workstations. PA-7300LC was a close successor to the earlier, also highly-integrated PA-7100LC CPU, it has several enhancements:

  1. Large on-chip L1 caches, in contrast to the small L1 on-chip assist caches of the PA-7100LC and PA-7200
  2. Integrated L2 cache controller in the on-chip Memory and I/O Controller (MIOC)
  3. Improved bus interface with faster GSC+ bus variant for up to 160MB/s
  4. Faster memory interface
PA-7300LC die
PA-7300LC die, © HP

The contemporary process technologies made it finally possible for HP to include a large L1 cache on the CPU die, breaking a long-standing HP tradition of large and off-chip L1 caches.

The PA-7300LC was the final 32-bit, PA-RISC version 1.1 processor after the PA-7200. HP 9000 workstations and servers from then on used HP 64-bit PA-RISC 2.0 processors, such as the PA-8000, being introduced in the same timeframe.

HP used the PA-7300LC processor to close the gap on lower price-point workstations at the bottom of its product lineup like A180 servers and B-Class workstations.

Details

Only one of the two integer ALUs is able to handle loads, stores and shifts, these operations can only be paired with simple math operations, like integer addition or multiplication. Both units can handle branch operations.

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Used in

References

  1. PA7300LC ERS (External Reference Specification) (PDF, 716 KB) Hewlett-Packard Company (1996)
  2. The PA-7300LC: the first System on a Chip archive.org Tom Meyer (1996: Presentation for Microprocessor Forum 1995)
  3. The PA 7300LC Microprocessor: A Highly Integrated System on a Chip (PDF, 50 KB) Terry W. Blanchard and Paul G. Tobin (June 1997: Hewlett-Packard Journal)

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