Cypress Semiconductor Corp, San Jose is claiming a breakthrough in microprocessor packaging that it reckons will usher in a new era in high-performance, compact-footprint computer technology. By pooling the efforts of Cypress and four of its entrepreneurial subsidiaries, the company is now building a dual processor Sparc single-board computer on a board the size of a credit card. The Cypress CYM6122L is a 10-chip, dual-processor Sparc module, matching performance of the Sparcore module in half the space. That Sparcore module is designed into Sun Microsystems Inc’c new top-of-the-line 600MP multiprocessing Sparcservers. The new modules use multichip module technology for mounting the circuits on a substrate using tape-automated bonding – a technology of which Bull SA in Paris was a pioneer in the early 1980s. It enables die in a miniature lead frame to be fully tested and burned in prior to assembly onto the substrate to maximise manufacturing yields. The five Cypress companies contributing to the effort were Austin, Texas-based Ross Technology, which develops the chips for the module, and came out with the fastest and most complete Sparc chip set, including the only integrated implementation for multiprocessor systems; the Multichip Technology subsidiary in San Jose designed the module to Ross’s specifications and manufactures it; the chips are inserted in the tape bonding frames using automated equip ment at Cypress Semiconductor (Minnesota) Inc in Bloomington; chips for the module are fabricated by Cypress’s San Jose facil ity and Cypress Semiconductor (Texas) Inc in Round Rock. The devices on the module include two CY7C601 Sparc Integer Units, two CY7C602 Floating Point Units, two CY7C605 Cache Controller-Memory Management Units, and four CY7C157 Cache memory chips. Samples of the CYM6112L module are out now and production is set to begin next quarter at $2,648 for 100-up for the 40MHz version.
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