How will this affect Wind if/when it is implemented?
From Paul Engel, Intel Thread
James - Re: " How does Intels current I2O technology fit
in with PCI NGI/O. Is it an extension of current I2O ?"
I20 is a serial communications implementation for high speed Input and output where a local processor handles the communications protocols, transfers, framing and such.
Intel implements its current I2O technology using either standard or special versions of its i960 which are usually mounted on an adapter card. The adapter card itself plugs into a PCI slot. The i960 (or other I20 controller) has its own small O/S which governs control of the serial communications and transfers to the host processor.
Thus, information to and from a CPU - to an external device - travels across a PCI bus - a PARALLEL data transfer (32 bits at a time) to the adapter card where the I20 controller takes over and performs the actual serial data transfer to and from the external device.
Intel's new NG/IO seems to define a totally new technique for data communications from the host CPU to ANY device using only SERIAL communications. A switch matrix/fabric, with its own intelligence and buffer storage, will direct a high speed serial stream of data from the CPU to an external device through a DIRECT SWITCH mechanism, and of course, the SWITCH MECHANISM is programmable to direct the data stream to any one of several external devices.
In this manner, a PARALLEL BUS is ELIMINATED, along with the limitations of such a bus such as electrical loading of the I/O signals, multiple simultaneous switching of 32 bit data paths, critical timing parameters for the bus signals and data transfers, etc.
To some extent, my assumption is that the NG/IO would replace the physical implementation of the current I20 implementation, although the I20 protocols and controls may still be used as a special case within the NG/IO process.
Paul
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