PA-7100LC

The PA-7100LC is a microprocessor that implements the PA-RISC 1.1 instruction set architecture (ISA) developed by Hewlett-Packard (HP).

The PA-7100LC also implemented architectural improvements including the MAX-1 multimedia instructions, uncacheable memory pages, and bi-endian support.

Prominently, the floating-point unit multiplier was modified to take up less area by halving the tree of carry-save adders that summed the partial products of the mantissa.

The performance loss was deemed acceptable as the PA-7100LC was designed for mid-range multimedia workstations where single-precision multiplies are more prevalent.

It was introduced in mid-1996 as a low-end to mid-range microprocessor complementing the high-end PA-8000 in HP's workstations and servers.

This design includes a famous "silicon doodle" of a velociraptor dinosaur (visible here in upper right corner of the die shot image).