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Phase 5's next generation Amiga Clone:



This page is accessed ****** times since 12. of September 1996.

This is not an official Phase5 page. I have just assembled some information from different home-pages about Phase 5 Amiga Clone project (now called A\box).

Introduction

"We will continue to give our full support to the Amiga idea because as we were among the first Amiga users we continue to believe in the advantages and superior concepts of the Amiga", says Wolf Dietrich, Managing Director of Phase 5 digital products. "However, it is high time for a radical leap forwards in technology that needs to be borne by a vision of a computer for the next millennium. We have seen too many half-hearted efforts in the last few years.

In the view of Gerald Carda, Technical Director at phase 5, it is necessary to take a step towards complete innovation in order to realize such a vision. "Concepts that build up on the standard components of the PC world never offer the scope that give a computer system the lead that the Amiga 1000 had over other systems 12 years ago".

Cooperation with Amiga Technology

Phase5 started the Power UP project in late 95 as Amiga Technology wasn't giving any view or commitment. Phase5 had been offering AT all of their support for quite a long time, and continued to do so in a situation where there was no development, no resources, no vision. Meanwhile, all development on AT side is canceled, so there is no more cooperation as there is nothing left to cooperate in.


Click on
the picture
above to get
a closer look!



Some data about the new Amiga clone (A/BOX):

The heart of the A/BOX is the system controller: CAIPIRINHA. The corner-stones of the CAIPIRINA design is:
  • 128-bit high performance UMA (Unified Memory Architecture) controller, using fast 100MHz SDRAMs (max 1.6 GB/s)
  • 64-bit processor bus with a maximum clock rate of 100 MHz
  • Two 24-bit video DMA units with freely addressable access, with integrated 24/-bit video DAC's
  • Four 16-bit audio outputs, 44.1 KHz with any number of virtual tracks, sample output, FM and AM synthesis
  • Video-in ports for 2 independent video inputs in Y/UV 4:2:2 quality
  • Audio inputs in 16-bit stero CD quality
  • LCD (TFT) controller according to the VESA standard (As standard can drive LCD screens like laptops pointing towards a portable A\Box being constructed with ease. Also handy for the desktop front-panel LCD on the A\Box.
  • A PCI-bus interface for medium-performance I/O applications
  • A local 16-bit DMA bus with 66.7 MHz and a max bandwidth of 132 MB/s for universal low-cost applications
  • An integrated IEEE 1394 firewire controller for digital I/O application. This is a new extremely high speed interface standard accepting up to 64 devices, long cable lengths and up to 200 megabits/s transfer rate. Especially useful for digital video cameras and future devices.
  • A desktop bus interface
  • PowerPC main processors (A\BOX will have support for more than one CPU). Option (but theoretical 500MHz maximum):
    • 120 MHz 603-e PowerPC
    • 150 MHz 603-e PowerPC
    • 166 MHz 603-e PowerPc
    • 150 MHz 604-e PowerPc
  • Graphical hardware support:
    • Hardware support for multimedia(MPEG)
    • Hardware support for 3D functions
    • 1600x1200 pixels at 24-bit color depth at a refresh rate of 75Hz
    • Smooth scroll virual screens limited only by memory
    • Hardware implementation for image and video effects
    • Two video output. One high-performance 220 MHz video output (1600x1280) and one 135 MHz Genlock-capable 24 bit video output (PAL/NTSC or S-VHS). Both video outputs can be used in parallel and the 135 MHz video output can be superimposed as a window in the 220 MHz display.
    • 2 independent video input porst in Y/UV 4:2:2 quality
  • Audio hardware:
    • Four 16-bits audio outputs, 44.1KHz (unlimited number of tracks), sample output, FM and AM synthesis.
    • Audio inputs in 16-bit stereo 44.1KHz.
    • Real-time generation and mixing of various audio tracks in any random format without making demands on the processor.
    • Support for various sound effects.
  • Other periferials:
    • All usual interfaces
    • Quad-speed CD ROM
    • Fast SCSI-II controller
    • Network interface
    • ISDN interface
  • Software:
    • Support from developers: Softwood, Personal Paint(Cloanto Software), Wordworth and others(Digita), Dir Opus and GPFax(GP Software), StormC(Haage und Partner), Turboprint Pro and Picturemanager Pro(Irseesoft), Amiwin and Miami(Holger Kruse), MaxonCinema4d(Maxon Computer), ImageFX and Alladin 4D(Nova Design), REFLECTIONS(Oberland Computer), CockTel, Monument V3 Pro, Adorage, p-OS(ProDAD) and ScanQUIX(RBM Computertechnik).
    • 500 software developers have registered for the phase 5 PowerUp Developer Support Programme
    • Completely new operating system written in Native PowerPC code, but with binary compatibility with Amiga-OS 3.x.
    • PowerPC CyberGraphX version
    • CyberGraph 3D software interface
    • Multimedia software interface
    • Optimaisation of the system's performance
    • Revision and adaptation of the user interface
    • Possibilities for other operative systems or emulations (MacOS or X-Windows link-up).

    • A price estimate

    For around 3,000 DM (1,400 UK-Pound or 2,000 US$, respectively):
    • A system as described above
    • 120 MHz 603e PowerPC
    • 16 MByte memory
    • 1 GByte SCSI HardDisk
    For around 4,000 DM (1,800 UK-Pound or 2,700 US$, respectively):
    • A system as described above
    • 150 MHz 604e PowerPC

    Related links
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    Last modified: Tue May 19 10:30:23 MET DST 1998