Milestones:SPARC RISC Architecture, 1987

Title

Citation

Sun Microsystems introduced SPARC (Scalable Processor Architecture) RISC (Reduced Instruction-Set Computing) in 1987. Building upon UC Berkeley RISC and Sun compiler and operating system developments, SPARC architecture was highly adaptable to evolving semiconductor, software, and system technology and user needs. The architecture delivered the highest performance, scalable workstations and servers, for engineering, business, Internet, and cloud computing applications.

Street address(es) and GPS coordinates of the Milestone Plaque Sites

, 4040 Palm Drive, Santa Clara, CA 95054

Details of the physical location of the plaque

Installed on the ground floor of the Clock Tower Building on the Oracle campus. The building is publicly-accessible

How the plaque site is protected/secured

Oracle's campus is secured and is protected as a historical site.

Historical significance of the work

Is the platform for semiconductor IC design and development

Delivered a new level of performance that enabled a myriad of new applications
Cost effective technology made available to commercial uses in volume
Open architecture adapted by multiple companies allowing independent innovations
SPARC was standardized as IEEE Std. 1754
Backward compatiblity
Compiler, OS and SPARC architecture and systems evolved together to provide differentiated performance.
Pioneering the fabless semiconductor microprocessor manufacturing process

Features that set this work apart from similar achievements

Delivered performance
Optimizing for and delivering total system solutions (OS, Compiler, CPU, Systems)
Maniacal focus on SPARC systems - all wood behind one arrow
>>> MIPS, POWER, PA-RISC