PlayStation Architecture

Supporting imagery

辅助图像

Model

机型

Motherboard 主板

Diagram 架构图

Model: Original 机型：原版

Slim 轻薄版

The original PlayStation. 初代 PlayStation。

Released on 03/12/1994 in Japan, 09/09/1995 in North America, 29/09/1995 in Europe. 于 1994 年 12 月 3 日在日本发布，1995 年 9 月 9 日在北美发布，1995 年 9 月 29 日在欧洲发布。

The PS One (slim revision). PS One（轻薄修订版）。

Released on 07/07/2000 in Japan, 19/09/2000 in North America, 29/09/2000 in Europe. 于 2000 年 7 月 7 日在日本发布，2000 年 9 月 19 日在北美发布，2000 年 9 月 29 日在欧洲发布。

This is what you get after cramming so many custom ICs into a single one. 这就是将如此多定制集成电路（IC）塞进单一芯片后的成果。

Motherboard: Original 主板：原版

Marked Motherboard: Showing model ‘SCPH-1000’. 标记主板：显示型号为“SCPH-1000”。

Remaining chips are fitted on the back. 其余芯片安装在背面。

Later models included SG-RAM instead of VRAM and removed most of the external I/O and video outs. 后期型号改用 SG-RAM 代替 VRAM，并移除了大部分外部 I/O 和视频输出接口。

Motherboard with important parts labelled 标有重要部件的主板

Diagram: Main architecture diagram 架构图：主架构图

The Bus Interface Unit is also connected to special ports of the GPU and SPU. 总线接口单元（Bus Interface Unit）也连接到 GPU 和 SPU 的专用端口。

A quick introduction

简要介绍

Sony knew that 3D hardware could get very messy to develop for. Thus, their debuting console will keep its design simple and practical… Although this may come at a cost! 索尼深知 3D 硬件的开发过程可能会非常混乱。因此，他们的首款游戏机将保持设计上的简洁与实用……尽管这可能需要付出一定的代价！

CPU

中央处理器 (CPU)

This section dissects the Sony CXD8530BQ, one of the two big chips this console houses. It’s what we would call a ‘System-on-Chip’ in today’s terms. 本节将剖析索尼 CXD8530BQ，这是该主机搭载的两大核心芯片之一。用今天的术语来说，这就是我们所说的“片上系统”（System-on-Chip）。

The origins

起源

The main processor follows one of those ‘X designed by Y, based on Z, and second-sourced from W’ arrangements, which is a bit dense to summarise in just a few sentences. So, why don’t we start with some historical context? 主处理器采用了那种“由 Y 设计，基于 Z，并由 W 提供第二来源”的复杂架构，很难用几句话概括清楚。那么，我们还是先从历史背景谈起吧？

A bit of history

历史回顾

A Macintosh Quadra 700 next to a PowerPC upgrade card. Like many adopters of the Motorola 68k, the 90s dictated a necessary shift towards RISC-based CPUs (i.e. PowerPC, in the case of Apple). 一台 Macintosh Quadra 700 旁边放着一张 PowerPC 升级卡。和许多 Motorola 68k 的使用者一样，90 年代迫使人们必须向基于 RISC 的 CPU（例如苹果所采用的 PowerPC）转型。

The early nineties were marked by a turning point in the fortunes of many popular CPUs. The once-leading 8-bit processors, such as the Z80 and 6502, had already faded from the spotlight, and Motorola’s famous 68000, along with other 16-bit designs that enjoyed success in the late 80s, were now candidates for replacement. Even in the PC field at the time, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, in his celebrated debate with Linus Torvalds, predicted that Intel’s x86 architecture had only five more years left until its demise from the home market. 九十年代初是许多流行 CPU 命运的转折点。曾经领先的 8 位处理器（如 Z80 和 6502）已淡出舞台，而摩托罗拉著名的 68000 以及其他在 80 年代末取得成功的 16 位设计，如今也面临被取代的命运。即使在当时的 PC 领域，安德鲁·塔能鲍姆（Andrew S. Tanenbaum）在与林纳斯·托瓦兹（Linus Torvalds）的著名辩论中也曾预言，英特尔的 x86 架构在家庭市场只剩下五年的寿命。

At first glance, it may look as though technological development had hit a wall. In reality, however, a new wave of relatively unknown CPUs was beginning to find its way into mainstream devices. Many of these designs originated in academia, and so intended to prove particular sets of design principles. Novel examples from that era include: 乍一看，技术发展似乎陷入了瓶颈。然而实际上，一股相对陌生的 CPU 新浪潮正开始进入主流设备。这些设计大多源于学术界，旨在验证特定的设计原则。那个时代的新颖例子包括：

• MIPS: Adopted by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (targeting graphics workstations). MIPS：被硅谷图形公司（SGI）采用（针对图形工作站）。
• PowerPC: Adopted by Apple (targeting desktop publishing). PowerPC：被苹果公司采用（针对桌面出版）。
• SPARC: Developed by Sun Microsystems (targeting servers and business workstations). SPARC：由太阳微系统公司开发（针对服务器和商业工作站）。
• ARM: Developed by Acorn, initially targeting the consumer market before expanding into PDAs, cell phones, and other embedded devices. ARM：由 Acorn 开发，最初针对消费市场，随后扩展到 PDA、手机和其他嵌入式设备。

… and many more ‘microcontroller’ chips that had yet to be finalised or adopted by a major industry - such as the Hitachi’s SH and NEC’s V810. To their surprise, these were subsequently selected for the Sega Saturn and the Nintendo Virtual Boy, respectively. ……还有许多尚未定型或被主流行业采用的“微控制器”芯片，例如日立的 SH 和 NEC 的 V810。令人惊讶的是，它们后来分别被世嘉土星（Sega Saturn）和任天堂 Virtual Boy 选中。

All of these processors had one thing in common: they adhered to the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) discipline, which radically shifted how such chips were designed and programmed. One rule of the RISC architecture dictated that a single instruction could not mix memory access with register operations. This allowed hardware designers to simplify the circuitry responsible for executing instructions… and then enhance it with parallelism techniques. 所有这些处理器都有一个共同点：它们都遵循精简指令集计算机（RISC）准则，这从根本上改变了此类芯片的设计和编程方式。RISC 架构的一条规则规定，单条指令不能同时混合内存访问和寄存器操作。这使得硬件设计人员能够简化负责执行指令的电路……并通过并行技术对其进行增强。

MIPS and Sony

MIPS 与索尼

The SGI Iris 4D/80, a beefy graphics workstation featuring a twin-tower design. The 4D series inaugurated the MIPS CPU in SGI computers, with this particular model bundling the R2000 processor [1]. I took this photo at the Computer History Museum (Mountain View, California), during my second visit in March 2025. SGI Iris 4D/80，一款采用双塔设计的强力图形工作站。4D 系列在 SGI 计算机中首次启用了 MIPS CPU，该特定型号搭载了 R2000 处理器 [1]。这张照片是我在 2025 年 3 月第二次访问加州山景城计算机历史博物馆时拍摄的。

MIPS Computer Systems originated from the eagerness of its founders (Stanford faculty) who were keen to turn their research into physical processors. This aligned well with the appetite of Silicon Valley venture capitalists in the 80s, who were anxious to invest in such innovations [2]. Their debuting CPU, the ‘MIPS R2000’, is considered the first commercial CPU to incorporate a RISC design, and it found a space in many UNIX workstations. MIPS Computer Systems 源于其创始人（斯坦福大学教员）将研究成果转化为物理处理器的渴望。这与 80 年代硅谷风险投资家对投资此类创新技术的迫切需求不谋而合 [2]。他们的首款 CPU“MIPS R2000”被认为是第一款采用 RISC 设计的商用 CPU，并被广泛应用于许多 UNIX 工作站中。

However, it wasn’t until 1987 that MIPS’ chips became a topic of conversation, all thanks to their adoption (and eventual acquisition) by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI) to power its equipment. SGI was an influential force in the computer graphics market, especially with the development of hardware-accelerated vertex pipelines, a function originally carried out by software (within the CPU). Following the merger, SGI secured a leading position in both CPU and graphics sectors. 然而，直到 1987 年，MIPS 芯片才成为热门话题，这全归功于硅谷图形公司（SGI）对其的采用（以及最终的收购）。SGI 是计算机图形市场的一股重要力量，特别是在硬件加速顶点流水线（vertex pipelines）的开发方面，该功能最初是由软件（在 CPU 内）执行的。合并后，SGI 在 CPU 和图形领域都确立了领先地位。

Prior to the development of the PlayStation, MIPS transitioned to a business model based on IP licensing, in which CPU designs were sold in the form of licenses, and licensees were then free to customise and manufacture the designs. Among their offerings was the R3000A CPU, found in their low-end catalogue. As such, the R3000A was not associated with the flagship line (unlike the R4000, which others would later choose), but it was an attractive investment in terms of cost. 在 PlayStation 开发之前，MIPS 转型为基于 IP 授权的商业模式，即以授权形式出售 CPU 设计，被授权方可以自由定制和制造这些设计。他们的产品中包括 R3000A CPU，属于其低端产品目录。因此，R3000A 并不属于旗舰系列（不像后来其他人选择的 R4000），但从成本角度来看，它是一项极具吸引力的投资。

Back to the main topic, Sony designed their audio and graphics chips in-house, but still needed the leading chip to drive those two. The selected CPU had to be powerful enough to showcase the impressive capabilities of Sony’s chips, while remaining affordable to keep the console at a competitive price. 回到正题，索尼内部设计了音频和图形芯片，但仍需要一颗主控芯片来驱动这两者。所选的 CPU 必须足够强大，以展示索尼芯片令人印象深刻的性能，同时又要保持经济实惠，以确保主机价格具有竞争力。

LSI and the commission

LSI 与委托

At the same time, LSI Logic (a semiconductor manufacturer) was a MIPS licensee that provided a ‘build-your-own’ CPU programme for businesses. This service, known as CoreWare, enabled clients to assemble custom CPU packages by choosing from a series of building blocks [3]. Part of the CoreWare library included the ‘CW33300’ block, a CPU core derived from the LSI LR33300 - an off-the-shelf CPU chip that LSI also commercialised. 与此同时，LSI Logic（一家半导体制造商）是 MIPS 的授权商，为企业提供“自建”CPU 计划。这项名为 CoreWare 的服务使客户能够通过选择一系列构建模块来组装定制的 CPU 封装 [3]。CoreWare 库的一部分包括“CW33300”模块，这是一个源自 LSI LR33300 的 CPU 核心——这是 LSI 也进行商业化销售的一款现成 CPU 芯片。