Motorola StarPort notebook computer

The Motorola StarPort notebook computer is a portable computer based on the PowerPC® Common Hardware Reference Platform (CHRP) specification. This computer uses a PowerPC G3 processor chip and containes a full complement of standard notebook computer features and interfaces.

• Company

  Motorola Computer Group

• Design Engineer

  Gary L. Embler

• Product Design and Development Areas

  Processor module daughter board

  Designed the processor module daughter board form factor, architecture, and circuit. Designed the form factor and architecture to be compatible with the Intel Mobile Module processor daughter board used in PC notebook computers. The module included the Motorola MPC750 PowerPC processor chip, the Motorola MPC106 north bridge chip, SSRAM L2 cache memory chips, and processor core power supply. Managed the prototype PCB layout, fab, assembly, and validation testing.

  System clock generation and distribution

  Designed the system clock generation and distribution circuit. This circuit provided phase-aligned terminated clock signals to the processor chip, north bridge chip, SDRAM DIMMs, and peripheral chips.

• References

  1. "Motorola to show laptop clone," T. Karlo, CNET, July 31, 1997.