R6000

The R6000, not to be confused with the IBM RAD6000, is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS II instruction set architecture (ISA). The chip set consisted of the R6000 microprocessor, R6010 floating-point unit and R6020 system bus controller. The R6000 was the first implementation of the MIPS II ISA.

The R6000 was implemented with emitter-coupled logic (ECL). In the mid- to late 1980s, the trend was to implement high-end microprocessors with high-speed logic such as ECL. As MIPS was a fabless company, the R6000 chip set was fabricated by Bipolar Integrated Technology.

The R6000 had few users. Control Data Systems (CDS) used an 80 MHz version in their high-end 4680-300 Series InforServer server. MIPS used the R6000 in their RC6260 and RC6280 servers.

References

• "MIPS Chip Set Implements Full ECL CPU". (December 1989). Microprocessor Report. pp. 1, 14–19.
• Horowitz, M. et al. (1990). "A 3.5ns, 1 Watt, ECL register file". ISSCC Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 68–59, 267.
• Roberts, D.; Layman, T.; Taylor, G. (1990). "An ECL RISC microprocessor designed for two level cache". Compcon Spring '90 Digest of Technical Papers, pp. 228–231.
• Thorson, M. (January 1990). "ECL Bus Controller Hits 266 Mbytes/s". Microprocessor Report. pp. 12–13.