Sun Microsystems will today (25 June) officially update its
processor roadmap to provide more information on the company's
transition from its UltraSPARC III processors to the next
generation UltraSPARC IV processors.
The roadmap is expected to show the UltraSPARC III being phased out
as it reaches 1.2GHz when it will be replaced by the UltraSPARC IV.
Sun currently sells 900MHz UltraSPARC IIIs across much of its
server line with some systems using 1.05GHz chips. The company is
expected to sell both the UltraSPARC III and UltraSPARC IV chips
side by side for some time.
Documents obtained in May show the UltraSPARC IV will be built with
copper interconnect technology and a 0.13-micron manufacturing
process. The UltraSPARC IV chips will arrive between the first and
second quarter of 2003 at a speed of 1.2GHz and rise to 2.0GHz in
late 2004.
Sun will not come out with its UltraSPARC V chip until the early
part of 2005, according to the documents. That chip will appear
first at 1.8GHz and reach 3.0GHz near the end of its life. Sun
could boost the speed of the UltraSPARC V beyond 3.0GHz if customer
interest warrants the move, said Sue Kunz, director of product
marketing for Sun's processor products group, in a May interview.
Sun plans to build the UltraSPARC V on a 0.10-micron manufacturing
process.
More information on Sun's other midrange UltraSPARC IIIi and
UltraSPARC IVi chips is expected to be provided today. In recent
documents, Sun says that it will provide several versions of these
chips targeted at different parts of the hardware market.
Sun will also update information on its lower end UltraSPARC IIe
line of chips at the briefing. Release dates are not yet available
for the IIIi, IVi or IIe chips.