Alpha Architecture Reference Manual, Third Edition (HP Technologies) [Paperback]

Alpha Architecture Committee (Author)

Book Description

Series: HP Technologies | Publication Date: April 15, 1998

Alpha Architecture Reference Manual, Third Edition is the authoritative reference on the definition of Alpha architecture. Revised by the Alpha Architecture Committee, this book contains a complete description of the common architecture required of all implementations and describes the interfaces to support the Windows NT, Digital UNIX, and OpenVMS operating systems.

The third edition reflects the latest implementations of the architecture, including the 21164A, 21164PC, and 21264. Some of the extensions to the architecture and the enhancement to the technical content include: new byte and word load, store and sign-extend operations; new multimedia instructions; new population enumeration and floating-point square root instructions; new instructions to improve data cache efficiency and updated Windows NT section.

The Alpha chip is the fastest chip on the marketplace today. It runs Windows NT, UNIX and OpenVMS operating systems. New base-level server configurations provide four times the memory of current systems.

Contains updated Windows NT section to reflect current technical port to Alpha
Includes new insights into the software aspects of the implementation
Covers new multimedia instructions for increased performance with high-end graphics applications

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The third edition reflects the latest implementations of the architecture, including the 21164A, 21164PC, and 21264. Some of the extensions to the architecture and the enhancement to the technical content include: new byte and word load, store and sign-extend operations; new multimedia instructions; new population enumeration and floating-point square root instructions; new instructions to improve data cache efficiency and updated Windows NT section.The Alpha chip is the fastest chip on the marketplace today. It runs Windows NT, UNIX and OpenVMS operating systems. New base-level server configurations provide four times the memory of current systems.

About the Author

The Alpha Architecture Committee represents all the disciplines of computer engineering at Digital Equipment Corporation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 952 pages
• Publisher: Digital Press; 3 edition (April 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1555582028
• ISBN-13: 978-1555582029
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,385,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alpha Architecture Manual -- Great stuff!, September 6, 2000

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This review is from: Alpha Architecture Reference Manual, Third Edition (HP Technologies) (Paperback)

I've been an Alpha developer for the NetBSD Operating System Project for several years now, and simply can't say enough about this book. It, like most documentation from Digital (now Compaq), is very thorough and well organized. It is a must for anyone doing systems programming on the Alpha, and quite valuable for people doing application optimization, as well.

It discusses the OpenVMS, Digital UNIX, and Windows NT PALcode operations in detail, has a full instruction set reference, discussions on performance optimizations, and also describes other architectural details, such as the console software interface.

If you're not an Alpha developer, get it anyway! The design decisions are discussed in detail, and it's a great way to learn about modern, high performance architecture design.