HAL Computer Systems

Last updated
HAL Computer Systems
IndustryComputer workstations
Founded1990;33 years ago (1990)
Founder Andrew Heller
Defunct2001 (2001)
Products HAL SPARC64

HAL Computer Systems, Inc was a Campbell, California-based computer manufacturer founded in 1990 by Andrew Heller, a principal designer of the original IBM POWER architecture. [1] His idea was to build computers based on a RISC architecture for the commercial market. The inspiration of the name comes from the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The company's intent to develop a high-performance microprocessor implementing the SPARC architecture prompted Fujitsu to fund the company in 1991. $40.2 million was invested in return for a 44% stake. As part of the deal:

  1. Fujitsu agreed to not increase their ownership of HAL.
  2. Fujitsu would fabricate HAL's microprocessor designs.
  3. Fujitsu would make its patents available to HAL.
  4. Fujitsu would manufacture some of the HAL machines, and market them in Asia.

In return, HAL gave Fujitsu access to the technology it was developing. By this time, HAL had 140 employees. [2]

In mid-1993, Heller resigned from his position as chairman and chief executive officer to become a consultant to Fujitsu Ltd. HAL said Heller had been developing roadmaps for Fujitsu and its subsidiaries ICL plc and Amdahl Corporation for the six months prior to his resignation, and had been less involved with HAL's daily operation. [3] There were suggestions that Fujitsu was dissatisfied with HAL's progress and their failure to introduce systems with their 64-bit processor, but the company had no comment on the suggestions. [4] The position of president was taken by Scott Metcalf, who was also the chief operating officer.

In November 1993, Fujitsu paid more than $50 million for the remaining 56% of HAL it did not own. HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu.

HAL was very secretive about their product plans during their operation as an independent company. Initial systems were intended for a 1994 launch.

The company produced multiple generations of computers based on microprocessors they had designed to the 64-bit SPARC V9 specification. Their processor design, known as SPARC64, combined out-of-order execution with mainframe-style reliability, availability and serviceability features. SPARC64 beat out Sun Microsystems' UltraSPARC I by a few months to be the first SPARC V9 microprocessor produced.

Most of the sales of the company went to the Japanese market. Fujitsu closed the subsidiary in mid-2001.

HAL later designed the SPARC64 II (previously known as the SPARC64+), SPARC64 III microprocessors. They also designed a microprocessor that was canceled when the division was closed by Fujitsu, known as the SPARC64 V. Fujitsu would later develop a microprocessor with the same name.

HAL Software Systems

HAL Software Systems was HAL's software division. Their first product was a Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) management tool. Later products, introduced in March 1994, included the Olias Browser, Olias Build Tools, Olias Remote Information Broker, and Olias Filter Development Kit. These products were for browsing and managing Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and World Wide Web documents and relational databases. In mid-1996, Fujitsu had HAL Computer Systems spin off HAL Software Systems as Chisholm Technologies, Inc., a company financed by Fujitsu that developed Intranet administration tools.

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The 88000 is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Motorola during the 1980s. The MC88100 arrived on the market in 1988, some two years after the competing SPARC and MIPS. Due to the late start and extensive delays releasing the second-generation MC88110, the m88k achieved very limited success outside of the MVME platform and embedded controller environments. When Motorola joined the AIM alliance in 1991 to develop the PowerPC, further development of the 88000 ended.

Visual Instruction Set, or VIS, is a SIMD instruction set extension for SPARC V9 microprocessors developed by Sun Microsystems. There are five versions of VIS: VIS 1, VIS 2, VIS 2+, VIS 3 and VIS 4.

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Ross Technology, Inc. was a semiconductor design and manufacturing company, specializing in SPARC microprocessors. It was founded in Austin, Texas in August 1988 by Dr. Roger D. Ross, a leading computer scientist who headed Motorola's Advanced Microprocessor Division and directed the developments of Motorola's MC68030 and RISC-based 88000 microprocessor families.

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SPARC64 or sparc64 may refer to:

References

  1. "RS/6000 Design Chief Forms HAL To Build UNIX Line With Its Own RISC"[ full citation needed ]
  2. "Fujitsu's $40m Buys 44% Of IBM Refugee's HAL Firm"[ full citation needed ]
  3. Heller Quits Top Job At HAL[ full citation needed ]
  4. Heller Quits HAL Computer To Steer Fujitsu Companies Towards Common UNIX[ full citation needed ]