The Power PC microprocessor provides a combination of high performance, small size, low power consumption and low price, which makes it suitable for a variety of computer applications - from hand-held computers to multimedia desktop computers to IBM's RS/6000 workstation. This is a comprehensive guide to the design and implementation of the chip that gives RISC-based workstation speed to low-end PCs, enabling them to run Windows, OS/2, Macintosh OS, AIX and other UNIX platforms concurrently. Beginning with an introduction to reduced instruction set computing (RISC), this text describes the electronics of PowerPC, including characteristics derived from its parent POWER architecture, and offers concise descriptions of all implementation procedures. Coverage includes: POWER versus PowerPc architectures, PowerPC processor family (including the 601, 602, 603 and 620 chips), the central electronic complex, cache memory organization, execution units, memory and I/O subsystem, operating environment, PowerOpen, AIX architecture, process management and I/O management.