Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!att!dptg!rutgers!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!mslater
From: mslater@cup.portal.com (Michael Z Slater)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: What is a coprocessor? ... and is the i860 one?
Message-ID: <21709@cup.portal.com>
Date: 31 Aug 89 00:10:08 GMT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 15

(This is a continuation of an earlier posting, which was truncated by
accident just as it was getting to the heart of the matter)

Two questions:

1. Is there a formal definition of a coprocessor?  Was the term used 
   prior to the 8087?

2. If a coprocessor is something like an 8087 that executes from the
   same instruction stream as the main processor, then what is a good name
   for an independent processor that works with another processor?
   Attached processor?  Slave processor?

Michael Slater, Microprocessor Report, mslater@cup.portal.com
415/494-2677   fax: 415/494-3718