Vying for the lead in high-performance processors

With other major vendors delaying products or contending with corporate change, Sun's Ultrasparc III could have a window of opportunity in the competition among high-performance, 64-bit processors.In an interview with Computer, Gary Lauterbach, Ultrasparc III's chief architect, describes this processor's key features--its extended pipeline, speculation mechanisms, two-cycle load latency, and memory system design--and compares Ultrasparc III to its major competitors.