Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) is a standard
system architecture for
PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
-based computer systems published jointly by
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
and
Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
in 1995. Like its predecessor
PReP, it was conceptualized as a design to allow various operating systems to run on an industry standard hardware platform, and specified the use of
Open Firmware
Open Firmware is a standard defining the interfaces of a computer firmware system, formerly endorsed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). It originated at Sun Microsystems where it was known as OpenBoot, and has bee ...
and
RTAS for machine abstraction purposes.
History
Unlike
PReP, CHRP incorporated elements of the
Power Macintosh
The Power Macintosh, later Power Mac, is a family of personal computers designed, manufactured, and sold by Apple Inc., Apple Computer, Inc as the core of the Mac (computer), Macintosh brand from March 1994 until August 2006.
Described by ''Mac ...
architecture and was intended to support the
classic Mac OS
Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...
and
NetWare
NetWare is a discontinued computer network operating system developed by Novell, Inc. It initially used cooperative multitasking to run various services on a personal computer, using the IPX network protocol. The final update release was ver ...
, in addition to the four operating systems that had been ported to PReP at the time (
Windows NT
Windows NT is a Proprietary software, proprietary Graphical user interface, graphical operating system produced by Microsoft as part of its Windows product line, the first version of which, Windows NT 3.1, was released on July 27, 1993. Original ...
,
OS/2
OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...
,
Solaris, and
AIX).
CHRP did not receive industry-wide adoption, however. The only systems to ship with actual CHRP hardware are certain members of IBM's
RS/6000 series running
AIX, and small amount of Motorola PowerStack workstations.
Mac OS 8 contains support for CHRP
and
New World
The term "New World" is used to describe the majority of lands of Earth's Western Hemisphere, particularly the Americas, and sometimes Oceania."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: ...
Power Macintosh computers are partially based on CHRP and PReP.
Power.org has a new
Power Architecture Platform Reference (PAPR) that provides the foundation for development of
Power ISA
Power ISA is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) currently developed by the OpenPOWER Foundation, led by IBM. It was originally developed by IBM and the now-defunct Power.org industry group. Power IS ...
-based computers running the Linux operating system. The PAPR was released fourth quarter of 2006.
See also
*
OpenPIC and IBM MPIC
Notes
References
CHRP Specification Version 1.0 and related documentsThe PowerPC (TM) Hardware Reference Platform an overview of CHRP
*
on NetBSD port-powerpc mailing list.
{{refend
External links
penguinppc.org description of CHRPMotorola StarMax 6000 at Low End Mac A CHRP machine that never shipped.
PowerPC mainboards
IBM computer hardware