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Technology Stocks : Wind River going up, up, up!
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To: Richard M. Smith who wrote (1277)6/10/1997 10:14:00 PM
From: David R. Lehenky   of 10309
 
I2O is not meant to play in the $20-$30 controller board market. I2O
is meant to address two problems: I/O performance bottlenecks, and
I/O device driver portability. Like most technologies, initially the
cost prohibits application of the technology to low-end, price-
sensitive systems. I2O will first be used in the "server" market,
where network interface and disk subsystem performance are paramount.
Low-end servers may only have one i960 on the motherboard. Mid-and-
high-end servers will have several i960s, one in each I2O subsystem.
As these systems begin shipping in volume, the price of the i960 chip
will come down, and the universe of systems for which I2O is cost-
effective will increase. Do you think that the i960RD at $30 or $40
each, in volume, is cost-effective if it improves the performance of
your $400 Pentium II processor by 30%. Do you think it is worth the
money if it allows a desktop system to handle digital video and audio
data without reducing the CPU to a crawl and without dropping frames
and losing audio synchronization? I2O will finally allow PCs to
perform as server-class machines. It will also facilitate the con-
vergence of TV and PC by providing the I/O performance required for
true multi-media on the desktop. These problems cannot be addresses
with $3 8/16 bit contollers. Or simple ISA controller boards. These
problems require the horsepower of 32-bit RISC processors running as
independent bus masters on the PCI bus, capable of a level of intell-
igence that effectively takes over the I/O subsystem duties of the
main system processor and Operating System. Meet I2O.

It sounds like you might need to read the Technical Backgrounder for
I2O at www.i2osig.org, and the additional I2O papers on WINDs Web
site. These should help you appreciate the scope of I2O and its
intended applications.

Hope this helps.

-Dave Lehenky
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