From GEnie's CP/M RoundTable: ---------- Category 2, Topic 34 Message 2 Sun Apr 12, 1987 B.DUERR [Bill] (Forwarded) Zilog finally does it--the Z280 is here! It's what the original Z800 was said to be and more. The Z800 has been rumored for four years now as a super chip that is still compatible with the Z80. The chip is an extension of a Z80, much more so than the HD64180. The Z280 runs all Z80 instructions (and therefore all 8080 instructions) and includes an expanded set of 45 new instructions plus additional addressing modes. It has both 8-bit and 16-bit signed and unsigned multiply and divide instructions. The set has over 600 instructions. At clock rates of 10 megahertz and above, 16-megabytes of memory address space, and 8-bit Z80 bus or 16-bit Zilog Z-Bus, capabilities far exceed Intel's 80286 used in IBM PC AT. Addressing modes offered make high-level languages more effective than ever. Using the Z-Bus, an extended Z80 instruction set is available and a CPU that is true 16-bit, as is the 80286. The Zilog Z280 is a highly integrated CPU, major functions are a paged memory-management unit with a 256-byte data and instruction cache, three-stage instruction pipelining, a four-channel DMA controller, three 16-bit counter/timers, a six-stage wait-state generator, a DRAM refresh controller, and a high-speed UART with rates up to 2.5 mHz. ---------- Category 2, Topic 34 Message 3 Sun Apr 12, 1987 B.DUERR [Bill] (Forwarded) High Tech Research is planning to use the Zilog Z280 in their "Ultraboard", an add-on board for all '84 Series CP/M Kaypros including the 10-83. The High Tech Research Ultraboard is now in beta-testing for a summer release and has a target price of less than $500. You will be able take the cover off your CP/M Kaypro, unplug the Z80 chip, plug the Ultraboard into the Z80 chip socket, attach the Kaypro monitor cable to the Ultraboard, and your CP/M Kaypro will run with a processing speed of 12MHz, up from its' current 4MHz, with an effective throughput up to 10 times that of a normal CP/M Kaypro in situations that aren't I/O bound (limited by disk access speed, etc.). It will come with 1 megabyte of RAM, expandable to 16 megabytes, configurable as a RAM disk by the user. You will be able to choose your own foreground and background hues on an external RGB color monitor. The board supports Virtual Memory and Cache Memory. The Ultraboard's Z280 on-board Cache Memory automatically stores all recently used instructions and/or data, so the processor has instant access to them for memory fetches, and subsequent disk and memory accesses are eliminated. On chip Cache Memory can reduce bus transactions by a much as 75%. Its Instruction Pipeline functions like three co-processors built into a single chip, internally processing multiple instructions. As the first processor is handling one instruction, processors two and three are simultaneously working on the next two instructions. Pipelining contributes dramatically to the Ultraboard's improved processing speed. High Tech Research had to replace the Kaypro screen driver so the screen could keep up with the Z280's processing speed. The Ultraboard includes a new 18MHz no-wait-state graphics screen driver, with its own 256 byte Cache Memory for instantaneous screen updates, 25 times faster than your current screen. No more waiting for the screen to catch up with your programs. The new screen driver comes with an RGB connector so you can attach an external color monitor to your Kaypro and select your own display colors. You can even design your own character sets, and switch between them and the standard Kaypro character set. The graphics chip set (GKS) on the Ultraboard contains a subset of the new GKS Standard. The Ultraboard supports multi-tasking and networking. But like the 286 and 386 processors, full realization of these Ultraboard capabilities awaits the completion of an operating system, already under development, specific to the new processor. A power kit supplies continuous backup battery power to the RAM, to keep the memory capacity of the machine always active, during a cold boot, a power failure, or even when the computer is turned off. The Ultraboard provides pin-outs for an SCSI bus, enabling the processor to support up to 300 megabytes of hard disk storage. The package will include enhanced version of Handyman, which will remove the 8K limit on notepad, for example. High Tech Research has in development a high speed interface between the Ultraboard and the PC. This will eventually permit the connection of the CP/M Kaypro to a cheap PC clone for hard disk storage, and for use as a network file server. As far as pure speed goes, the Ultraboard should be at least comparable to a standard AT. The real question is whether there will be any software written to take advantage of it. Standard CP/M software should run but won't take advantage of the extra memory, which will have to be used as a RAM disk. High Tech is in contact with some people who are interested in converting programs to the new chip. Depending on how the chip itself handles the extra memory, it might be easy to convert a program to look for RAM beyond 64K and use it if found. ---------- Category 2, Topic 34 Message 4 Mon Apr 20, 1987 B.DUERR [Bill] (Forwarded) For more information on the Zilog Z280 chip, contact Jim Magill, Richard Davies, or Tom Hampton, Product and Technical Marketing, Zilog, Inc., 210 Hacienda Ave., Campbell, CA 95008, 408/370-8000 or 370-5166. For more information on the Ultraboard contact High Tech Research, 1135 Pine Street, #107, Redding, CA 96001, (800)446-3220, (800)446-3223 in California. ----------