HAL Computer Systems
Encyclopedia
HAL Computer Systems, Inc was a Campbell, California
-based computer manufacturer founded in 1990 by Andrew Heller, a principal designer of the original IBM POWER
architecture. His idea was to build computers based on a RISC architecture for the commercial market.
The company's intent to develop a high-performance microprocessor implementing the SPARC
architecture prompted Fujitsu
to fund the company in 1991. $40.2 million was invested in return for a 44% stake. As part of the deal:
In return, HAL gave Fujitsu access to the technology it was developing. By this time, HAL had 140 employees.
In mid-1993, Heller resigned from his position as chairman and chief executive officer to become a consultant to Fujitsu Ltd. HAL said Heller had been developing roadmaps for Fujitsu and its subsidiaries ICL plc and Amdahl Corporation
for the six months prior to his resignation, and had been less involved with HAL's daily operation. There were suggestions that Fujitsu was dissatisfied with HAL's progress and their failure to introduce systems with their 64-bit processor, but the company had no comment on the suggestions. The position of president was taken by Scott Metcalf, who was also the chief operating officer.
In November 1993, Fujitsu paid more than $50 million for the remaining 56% of HAL it did not own. HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu.
HAL was very secretive about their product plans during their operation as an independent company. Initial systems were intended for a 1994 launch.
The company produced multiple generations of computers based on microprocessors they had designed to the 64-bit SPARC V9 specification. Their processor design, known as SPARC64
, combined out-of-order execution
with mainframe
-style reliability, availability and serviceability
features. SPARC64 beat out Sun Microsystems
' UltraSPARC I
by a few months to be the first SPARC V9 microprocessor produced.
Most of the sales of the company went to the Japanese market. Fujitsu closed the subsidiary in mid-2001.
HAL later designed the SPARC64 II (previously known as the SPARC64+), SPARC64 III, and SPARC64 IV microprocessors. They also designed a microprocessor that was canceled when the division was closed by Fujitsu, known as the SPARC64 V
. Fujitsu would later develop a microprocessor with the same name.
(DCE) management tool. Later products, introduced in March 1994, included the Olias Browser, Olias Build Tools, Olias Remote Information Broker, and Olias Filter Development Kit. These products were for browsing and managing Standard Generalized Markup Language
(SGML) and World Wide Web
documents and relational databases. In mid-1996, Fujitsu had HAL Computer Systems spin off HAL Software Systems as Chisholm Technologies, Inc., a company financed by Fujitsu that developed Intranet
administration tools.
Campbell, California
Campbell is a city in Santa Clara County, California, a suburb of San Jose, and part of Silicon Valley, in the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Campbell's population is 39,349...
-based computer manufacturer founded in 1990 by Andrew Heller, a principal designer of the original IBM POWER
IBM POWER
POWER is a reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by IBM. The name is an acronym for Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC....
architecture. His idea was to build computers based on a RISC architecture for the commercial market.
The company's intent to develop a high-performance microprocessor implementing the SPARC
SPARC
SPARC is a RISC instruction set architecture developed by Sun Microsystems and introduced in mid-1987....
architecture prompted Fujitsu
Fujitsu
is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....
to fund the company in 1991. $40.2 million was invested in return for a 44% stake. As part of the deal:
- Fujitsu agreed to not increase their ownership of HAL.
- Fujitsu would fabricate HAL's microprocessor designs.
- Fujitsu would make its patents available to HAL.
- Fujitsu would manufacture some of the HAL machines, and market them in Asia.
In return, HAL gave Fujitsu access to the technology it was developing. By this time, HAL had 140 employees.
In mid-1993, Heller resigned from his position as chairman and chief executive officer to become a consultant to Fujitsu Ltd. HAL said Heller had been developing roadmaps for Fujitsu and its subsidiaries ICL plc and Amdahl Corporation
Amdahl Corporation
Amdahl Corporation is an information technology company which specializes in IBM mainframe-compatible computer products. Founded in 1970 by Dr. Gene Amdahl, a former IBM employee, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu since 1997...
for the six months prior to his resignation, and had been less involved with HAL's daily operation. There were suggestions that Fujitsu was dissatisfied with HAL's progress and their failure to introduce systems with their 64-bit processor, but the company had no comment on the suggestions. The position of president was taken by Scott Metcalf, who was also the chief operating officer.
In November 1993, Fujitsu paid more than $50 million for the remaining 56% of HAL it did not own. HAL became a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu.
HAL was very secretive about their product plans during their operation as an independent company. Initial systems were intended for a 1994 launch.
The company produced multiple generations of computers based on microprocessors they had designed to the 64-bit SPARC V9 specification. Their processor design, known as SPARC64
SPARC64
SPARC64 is a microprocessor developed by HAL Computer Systems and fabricated by Fujitsu. It implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture , the first microprocessor to do so. SPARC64 was HAL's first microprocessor and was the first in the SPARC64 brand. It operates at 101 and 118 MHz...
, combined out-of-order execution
Out-of-order execution
In computer engineering, out-of-order execution is a paradigm used in most high-performance microprocessors to make use of instruction cycles that would otherwise be wasted by a certain type of costly delay...
with mainframe
Mainframe computer
Mainframes are powerful computers used primarily by corporate and governmental organizations for critical applications, bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.The term originally referred to the...
-style reliability, availability and serviceability
Reliability, Availability and Serviceability
reliability, availability, and serviceability are computer hardware engineering terms. It originated from IBM to advertise the robustness of their mainframe computers. The concept is often known by the acronym RAS....
features. SPARC64 beat out Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
' UltraSPARC I
UltraSPARC
The UltraSPARC is a microprocessor developed by Sun Microsystems who is now a part of Oracle Corporation and fabricated by Texas Instruments that implements the SPARC V9 instruction set architecture . It was introduced in mid-1995. It was the first microprocessor from Sun Microsystems to implement...
by a few months to be the first SPARC V9 microprocessor produced.
Most of the sales of the company went to the Japanese market. Fujitsu closed the subsidiary in mid-2001.
HAL later designed the SPARC64 II (previously known as the SPARC64+), SPARC64 III, and SPARC64 IV microprocessors. They also designed a microprocessor that was canceled when the division was closed by Fujitsu, known as the SPARC64 V
SPARC64 V
SPARC64 V refers to two unique microprocessors, the SPARC64 V "Zeus" developed by Fujitsu, and an earlier design developed by HAL Computer Systems that never made it into production. The HAL design was canceled in mid-2001 when HAL, a subsidiary of Fujitsu, was closed...
. Fujitsu would later develop a microprocessor with the same name.
HAL Software Systems
HAL Software Systems was HAL's software division. Their first product was a Distributed Computing EnvironmentDistributed Computing Environment
The Distributed Computing Environment is a software system developed in the early 1990s by a consortium that included Apollo Computer , IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, and others. The DCE supplies a framework and toolkit for developing client/server applications...
(DCE) management tool. Later products, introduced in March 1994, included the Olias Browser, Olias Build Tools, Olias Remote Information Broker, and Olias Filter Development Kit. These products were for browsing and managing Standard Generalized Markup Language
Standard Generalized Markup Language
The Standard Generalized Markup Language is an ISO-standard technology for defining generalized markup languages for documents...
(SGML) and World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
documents and relational databases. In mid-1996, Fujitsu had HAL Computer Systems spin off HAL Software Systems as Chisholm Technologies, Inc., a company financed by Fujitsu that developed Intranet
Intranet
An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
administration tools.