IBM Corp does plan a proprietary version of the PowerPC chip that will include an on-chip iAPX-86 emulator, PC Week reports. The part is planned for next year and is dubbed the PowerPC 615, the paper says. It is said to include logic that interprets iAPX-86 instructions several times faster than software emulation: word is that the part will appear about 15 months from now and will deliver performance of a 66MHz Pentium in emulation mode – making another reason for IBM to have knocked back the option to make Pentiums for its own use. IBM declined to comment. The chip is being developed by IBM Microelectronics, in Burlington, Vermont, outside its PowerPC partnership with Motorola Inc, the paper hears, and will apparently not be marketed to customers for the other versions of the PowerPC, providing IBM with a means to give its own machines an edge over clones. If 615-based machines sell well, IBM is expected to produce other versions of the PowerPC with the emulation capability. The downside of IBM’s approach is that it may well put other personal computer manufacturers off the idea of adopting the PowerPC.
