Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!ginosko!uunet!fernwood!asylum!langz
From: langz@asylum.SF.CA.US (Lang Zerner)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Pee Cee emulation on the NeXT
Message-ID: <6439@asylum.SF.CA.US>
Date: 5 Oct 89 19:14:58 GMT
References: <1989Oct3.212426.795@i-core.UUCP> <130025@gore.com>
Reply-To: langz@asylum.UUCP (Lang Zerner)
Organization: The Great Escape, Inc
Lines: 33

In article <130025@gore.com> jacob@gore.com (Jacob Gore) writes:
>A Sparcstation has a considerably faster CPU than the NeXT (especially in
>low context switching situations, such as running just one process, such as
>an emulator), and still the PC emulator you get on it is on the slow side.
>Same goes for the Sun-386i, and that even uses the '86 mode (whatever it's
>called) of the chip, instead of emulating it in software.  You'll probably
>get as good or better performance out of a $750 XT clone.

Is it possible to do something along the lines of the Bridgeboard on the Amiga?
After all, the other three slots in the cube along with Mach's existing
multiprocessing (via threads) capability should allow some kind of AT
motherboard with a NeXT bus interface to work.  The way they do it on the
Amiga, there is an AT clone on a board which plugs into an Amiga slot, then
uses some software on the Amiga side to create a PC window under the
multitasking OS through which monitor and keyboard I/O travel.  The Bridgeboard
also uses the Amiga parallel port for printing.  Data transfer is through a
dual-ported memory cache.  In the case of the Amiga, there is are AT slots on
the Amiga motherboard (the Bridgeboard acts as a bridge between the two
busses), so you can use standard AT boards to get serial ports and alternate
monitors, etc., but these could be built onto a NeXT-compatible AT board.

I can't see how this board could cost more than an AT system, given that the
board wouldn't require a monitor, case, keyboard, etc.  NOTE: I am not a
hardware boy, so (1) I'm talking out of my hat and (2) I can safely ignore any
"fine, you build it" responses. :-)

What say ye?  Is it doable?

-- 
Be seeing you...
--Lang Zerner
langz@asylum.sf.ca.us   UUCP:bionet!asylum!langz   ARPA:langz@athena.mit.edu
"...and every morning we had to go and LICK the road clean with our TONGUES!"