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Conference ricks::dechips

Title:Hudson VLSI
Notice:For Digital Chip Data - CHIPBZ::PRODUCTION$:[DS_INFO...]
Moderator:RICKS::PHIPPS
Created:Wed Feb 12 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:701
Total number of notes:4658

657.0. "PCI-bus interrupt accelerator technology ?" by ROM01::OLD_CIPOLLA (Bruno Cipolla) Mon Mar 10 1997 06:20

    what is "DIGITAL's PCI-bus interrupt accelerator technology"?
    thanks 
    Bruno
    
    Passive backplanes and enclosures
    
             Two new 19-slot passive backplanes are now available for
       DIGITAL's SBC products. They feature DIGITAL's PCI-bus interrupt
       accelerator technology and PCI bridge-chip technology
T.RTitleUserPersonal
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657.1Modular Computing aka DMCC: see http://www.digital.com/info/oemBBPBV1::WALLACEjohn wallace @ bbp. +44 860 675093Mon Mar 10 1997 09:1019
    Hi Bruno,
    
    You could try the first few replies in topic 38 in NESBIT::MODULAR.
    
    My Summary: a piece of silicon which allows the limited number of
    interrupt pins on a PICMG CPU card to be used to encode up to 64 "IRQ"s
    from 16 PCI slots. Without the interrupt accelerator the OS would have
    to poll all the possible interrupting devices to see whose interrupt to
    service. This is (a) unpredictably slow (b) not possible on certain
    Alpha OSes (which don't have the infrastructure or driver support for
    shared interrupts).
    
    PICMG = PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturer's Group?
    
    Applicability today: Alpha PICMG CPUs on Digital-supplied (or licensed)
    PICMG backplanes.
    
    regards
    john
657.2also, the IA is on all our backplanes, not just the 19 slotRLTIME::COOKMon Mar 10 1997 11:4614
    
>    Applicability today: Alpha PICMG CPUs on Digital-supplied (or licensed)
>    PICMG backplanes.
    
We also sell an Intel PICMG CPU card.

BTW, we publish the spec on the interrupt accelerator so anyone who want to 
utilize that technology with our backplane or to incorporate it into their 
backplane can do so.


ac


657.3Intel inside => interrupt accelerator ignoredBBPBV1::WALLACEjohn wallace @ bbp. +44 860 675093Mon Mar 10 1997 12:466
    Yes indeed we do (re)sell Intel PICMG CPU cards but so far as I'm aware
    they make no attempt to use the Interrupt Accelerator facilities. Hence
    my comment about applicability. Corrections+clarifications welcome.
    
    regards
    john
657.4RLTIME::COOKMon Mar 10 1997 13:0810
>    Yes indeed we do (re)sell Intel PICMG CPU cards but so far as I'm aware
>    they make no attempt to use the Interrupt Accelerator facilities. Hence
>    my comment about applicability. Corrections+clarifications welcome.
    
I had been told that the latest Intel cards supported the IA, but I just 
confirmed that you are correct.

ac