The new Dolphin Server Technology A/S subsidiary of Norsk Data A/S has revealed that it has licensed the instruction set of Motorola Inc 88000 RISC microprocessor, and the accompanying diagnostic and verification software to design a compatible processor in ECL using closed circuit liquid cooling, and claims that the Orion system it is developing will be clocked at 125MHz and be able to execute eight 88000 instructions in parallel to deliver 1,000 MIPS – with prices starting at $500,000. Dolphin says the aim is to deliver mainframe performance at the vastly better price-performance now enjoyed only by workstation and personal computer users. The Orion, which is planned for volume delivery in 1992, will come in above the Triton 88 machines announced in October, which are Motorola Computer Systems Delta 88 boxes bought OEM. Motorola is looking at implementing some of Dolphin’s technology in future versions of the 88000. The Orion will achieve 1,000 MIPS only with optimising software; without, it is expected to deliver between 300 to 400 MIPS. It will have a hierarchical bus structure with Scalable Coherent Interface, Futurebus+ and VME, and use 88000s for the input-output.
