DEC’s Unix workstation programme has been thrown into some disarray by the failure of sole source Bipolar Integrated Technology Inc to produce the R6000 ECL implementation of the MIPS Computer Systems Inc RISC in the quantities DEC – and other customers – require. DEC yesterday confirmed an Electronic News report that it had killed the planned R6000-based models in its DECstation Ultrix family and that it would very soon come out with enhanced versions of the current R3000 machines, following up with models based on the CMOS R4000 part, which is rated between 40 and 50 MIPS, against the planned &7 MIPS of the R6000, now scaled back to 60 MIPS. DEC killed the R6000 project after deciding that the delay meant that the product line would have too short a life for the investment to be recouped as faster CMOS versions come along. DEC is likely to have been hit particularly hard by the yield problems at Bipolar because it needs a custom version of the chip with the byte ordering altered to match that of the VAX. MIPS itself, Control Data Corp and Bull SA are persisting with the R6000, and DEC is expected to adopt subsequent faster implementations of the ECL RISC in due course.
