Real-time performance of the HARRIS RTX 2000 stack architecture versus the Sun 4 SPARC and the Sun 3 M68020 architectures with a proposed real-time performance benchmark

Abstract

This study compares a stack machine, the Harris RTX 2000, a RISC machine, the Sun 4/SPARC, and a CISC machine, the Sun3/M68020 for real-time applications. An attempt is made to compare the generic features of each machine which are characteristic of their architectural classes as opposed to being characteristic of the individual machine only. Performance is compared based on execution of the Stanford Integer Benchmark series and on interrupt response characteristics. A simple Real-Time Performance BenchMark which integrates raw compute power and interrupt response is proposed, then used to estimate the real-time performance of the machines. It is shown that the RTX 2000 outperforms the others for applications which have a very large number of interrupts per second, confirming that stack architectures should perform well in real-time applications such as high-speed computer communication systems. For less interrupt intensive applications, the Sun 4 SPARC performs better.