San Jose, California-based Cypress Semiconductor Corp has introduced what it claims is the first building block chip set for the Pentium with integral cache memory, which it hopes will guarantee it a quick entry into the high-volume Pentium market. The company said that its newly designed hyperCache Chipset was cheaper to produce than standard sets with second level cache, saved on-board space and used less power. Cypress said that the static RAM used for cache is in short supply as demand soars, and that by incorporating cache in the chip set, it has provided a guaranteed supply of cache for personal computer manufacturers. HyperCache Chipset comprises just three chips – a reduction from between 16 and 27 components on a typical motherboard – the CY82C691 PCI and Memory Controller, the CY82692 Data Path Chip with integrated cache and the CY82C693 System Input-Output Controller. The CY82C692 includes 128Kb of two- way set associative, synchronous pipelined cache, which gives higher performance than standard asynchronous cache. Cypress reckons the set reduces the cost of producing a single motherboard by some $35 to $55, down to $110 from around $145 to $165 depending on the manufacturer. Hypercache includes a DRAM controller that supports both fast page mode and extended data out dynamics. It also integrates control of key peripherals including Local Bus IDE with master mode, keyboard and mouse control, Direct Memory Access interrrupt control and real time clock with extra CMOS RAM. Cypress entered the personal computer chip set market in 1994 when it acquired Contaq Microsystems Inc (CI No 2,396) which developed the first 80486 chip set to offer a PCI-to-AT bridge, and had a strong customer base in the Far East. Cypress has strategic relationships with personal computer manufacturers worldwide including IBM Corp, Hewlett-Packard Co and Compaq Computer Corp. HyperCache Chipset is due to be shipped in October at $48 for 1,000-up for the three-chip set. An optional fourth chip is a 16K by 64 bit cache RAM, the CY82C694 for cache sizes up to 1Mb in 128Kb steps. With the fourth chip, to give 256Kb cache in total, the set is $62 for 1,000-up.
