<s>
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
boards	O
were	O
dual-processor	O
accelerator	O
boards	O
designed	O
by	O
Phase5	O
Digital	O
Products	O
for	O
Amiga	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
had	O
two	O
different	O
processors	O
,	O
a	O
Motorola	B-Device
68000	I-Device
series	I-Device
(	O
68k	B-Device
)	O
and	O
a	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
,	O
working	O
in	O
parallel	O
,	O
sharing	O
the	O
complete	O
address	O
space	O
of	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
computer	I-Device
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1995	O
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
GmbH	O
announced	O
they	O
were	O
going	O
to	O
port	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
to	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
their	O
Power	O
Amiga	B-Device
plan	O
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
was	O
going	O
to	O
launch	O
new	O
Power	O
Amiga	B-Device
models	O
using	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
604e	O
reduced	B-Architecture
instruction	I-Architecture
set	I-Architecture
computer	I-Architecture
(	O
RISC	B-Architecture
)	O
CPU	O
and	O
in	O
cooperation	O
with	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
Phase5	O
would	O
release	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
4-compatible	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
accelerator	O
boards	O
for	O
old	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
3000	I-Device
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
in	O
1996	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
 '	O
parent	O
company	O
ESCOM	O
entered	O
into	O
deep	O
financial	O
problems	O
and	O
could	O
not	O
support	O
Amiga	B-Device
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
resources	O
,	O
the	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
project	O
at	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
stalled	O
and	O
Phase5	O
had	O
to	O
launch	O
accelerators	O
without	O
a	O
PowerPC-native	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
stopgap	O
solution	O
,	O
a	O
new	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	O
was	O
created	O
allowing	O
new	O
PPC-native	O
software	O
run	O
parallel	O
with	O
68k	B-Device
Amiga	B-Application
OS	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
complicate	O
things	O
even	O
further	O
,	O
former	O
Commodore	O
International	O
chief	O
engineer	O
Dave	O
Haynie	O
questioned	O
Phase5	O
's	O
plans	O
to	O
develop	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
boards	O
without	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
:	O
"	O
Their	O
approach	O
on	O
the	O
software	O
front	O
is	O
kind	O
of	O
a	O
hack	O
,	O
and	O
on	O
the	O
hardware	O
front	O
it	O
's	O
just	O
too	O
much	O
like	O
the	O
old	O
Commodore	O
;	O
at	O
best	O
,	O
they	O
'll	O
wind	O
up	O
with	O
interesting	O
,	O
non-standard	O
,	O
and	O
overpriced	O
machines	O
that	O
ca	O
n't	O
keep	O
up	O
with	O
the	O
rapid	O
changes	O
in	O
the	O
industry.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Nevertheless	O
Phase5	O
had	O
decided	O
to	O
go	O
their	O
own	O
way	O
and	O
develop	O
a	O
PowerPC-based	O
AmigaOS-compatible	O
computer	O
without	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wolf	O
Dietrich	O
(	O
managing	O
director	O
of	O
phase5	O
)	O
earlier	O
commented	O
that	O
"	O
we	O
found	O
that	O
Amiga	B-Device
Technologies	O
offers	O
us	O
no	O
sort	O
of	O
outlook	O
or	O
basis	O
for	O
developing	O
into	O
the	O
future	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
no	O
detailed	O
information	O
about	O
how	O
many	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
accelerator	O
boards	O
Phase5	O
(	O
and	O
later	O
DCE	O
)	O
sold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Ralph	O
Schmidt	O
in	O
an	O
AmigActive	O
article	O
featuring	O
MorphOS	B-Operating_System
,	O
there	O
were	O
about	O
10,000	O
people	O
using	O
Phase5	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
accelerator	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
unofficial	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
support	O
page	O
estimates	O
similar	O
figures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	O
is	O
a	O
multitasking	O
kernel	O
developed	O
by	O
Ralph	O
Schmidt	O
for	O
Phase5	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
accelerator	O
boards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
kernel	O
ran	O
alongside	O
the	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
where	O
PPC	O
and	O
68k	B-Device
native	O
software	O
could	O
run	O
parallel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	O
used	O
Executable	O
and	O
Linkable	O
Format	O
(	O
ELF	O
)	O
as	O
the	O
executable	O
format	O
and	O
supported	O
runtime	O
linking	O
,	O
relocations	O
and	O
custom	O
sections	O
;	O
it	O
used	O
GNU	B-Application
Compiler	I-Application
Collection	I-Application
(	O
GCC	B-Application
)	O
as	O
its	O
default	O
compiler	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
caused	O
controversy	O
in	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
community	O
when	O
developers	O
thought	O
that	O
phase5	O
was	O
bringing	O
"	O
too	O
Unixish	O
stuff	O
"	O
to	O
Amiga	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
feared	O
that	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	O
introducing	O
shared	O
objects	O
and	O
dynamic	B-Application
linking	I-Application
would	O
replace	O
the	O
original	O
shared	O
library	B-Library
model	O
and	O
shared	O
objects	O
were	O
indeed	O
adapted	O
into	O
AmigaOS	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Blizzard	O
PPC	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
fit	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
as	O
a	O
standalone	O
device	O
which	O
would	O
not	O
need	O
installing	O
additional	O
software	O
but	O
utilised	O
Amiga	B-Device
's	O
unique	O
Autoconfig	B-Device
feature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
caused	O
problems	O
to	O
some	O
3rd	O
party	O
developers	O
who	O
developed	O
their	B-Device
own	I-Device
PPC	I-Device
kernels	I-Device
for	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
cards	O
since	O
they	O
could	O
not	O
work	O
on	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
without	O
removing	O
the	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
kernel	O
first	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
few	O
hundred	O
titles	O
were	O
released	O
for	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
including	O
TurboPrint	B-Device
PPC	O
,	O
Amiga	B-Device
datatypes	O
,	O
MP3	O
and	O
MPEG	O
players	O
,	O
games	O
(	O
Quake	B-Application
and	O
Doom	B-Application
video	O
games	O
to	O
mention	O
few	O
)	O
and	O
various	O
plugins	O
including	O
Flash	B-Operating_System
Video	I-Operating_System
plugin	O
for	O
Voyager	B-Device
web	I-Device
browser	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
12	O
,	O
1997	O
,	O
Phase5	O
announced	O
PowerUP	B-Operating_System
accelerator	O
board	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
2000	I-Device
line	O
of	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
known	O
as	O
Blizzard	O
603e	O
,	O
this	O
accelerator	O
board	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
and	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
trapdoor	O
slot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
used	O
a	O
low	O
cost	O
,	O
low	O
end	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
603e	O
processor	O
designed	O
for	O
portable	O
and	O
embedded	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
accelerator	O
board	O
was	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
Amiga	B-Device
3000	I-Device
and	O
Amiga	B-Device
4000	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
accelerator	O
board	O
was	O
famous	O
for	O
its	O
high	O
performance	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
64	O
bit	O
wide	O
memory	O
bus	O
and	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
604e	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
According	O
to	O
Phase	O
5	O
it	O
could	O
sustain	O
memory	O
transfers	O
up	O
to	O
68	O
MB/s	O
on	O
the	O
68060	B-General_Concept
and	O
up	O
to	O
160	O
MB/s	O
on	O
the	O
604e	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
BlizzardVision	O
PPC	O
could	O
be	O
installed	O
into	O
an	O
Amiga	B-Application
1200	I-Application
desktop	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
had	O
a	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
(	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
digital-to-analog	O
converter	O
(	O
DAC	O
,	O
RAMDAC	B-Device
)	O
with	O
a	O
bandwidth	O
of	O
230MHz	O
able	O
to	O
display	O
resolutions	O
with	O
80	O
Hz	O
vertical	O
refresh	O
rate	O
up	O
to	O
1152×900	O
pixels	O
at	O
24	O
bits	O
,	O
or	O
1600×1200	O
pixels	O
at	O
16	B-Device
bits	I-Device
.	O
</s>
