Richard, the i960RP/RD is not just a CPU. From my previous post on
the PLX 9080:
The i960RP/RD is essentially an i960Jx with some SPECIAL features.
The i960Jx has 4KB Icache, 2KB Dcache, 1KB RAM, interrupt
controller, and 2 32-bit timers; it is rated at 31 MIPS at 33 Mhz.
The SPECIAL features, in a nut shell, are a complete PCI-to-PCI
bridge unit, I2O messaging unit, 3-channel DMA controller, DRAM/
SRAM/ROM memory controller, I2C bus interface unit, and advanced
programmable interrupt controller (APIC).
So the i960RP/RD is a RISC processor with on-chip cache and other
integrated controller functions. In addition, it provides a PCI bus
interface, and a PCI-to-PCI bridge. The PLX 9080 provides the PCI
bus interface, I2O message unit, and 2 DMA channels. This chip does
NOT have a CPU, interrupt controller, or 32-bit timers, and sells for
$24 in quantity 20,000. The PLX chip does not include the PCI-to-PCI
bridge functionality, either. This feature of the i960RP/RD allows
the PCI bus to be extended past its normal 4 bus load limit.
I hope you can see that comparing the cost of a 32-bit processor with
the i960RP/RD is not an apples-to-apples exercise. At a minimum, you
would have to price a i960Jx plus a PLX 9080, and you would still be
missing the PCI-to-PCI bridge function, as well as the run-time
license for IxWorks.
As far as PC Expo vendors of interest, you might check www.i2osig.org
for their current list of I2O participants. You may have to look under
the hood to find out if I2O is being used. Intelligent I/O would be
a good clue.
Hope this helps!
-Dave Lehenky |
