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From: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mqcc.mq.OZ (Ian Farquhar)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Black Belt Video
Summary: How about dusl porting chip ram?
Keywords: chip ram, dual ported ram, bus bandwidth
Message-ID: <87@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz>
Date: 15 Jan 90 05:03:01 GMT
References: <1182@m3.mfci.UUCP> <5357@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> <9292@cbmvax.commodore.com> <5364@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM>
Sender: news@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz
Reply-To: ifarqhar@mqccsunc.mq.oz (Ian Farquhar)
Distribution: comp
Organization: Macquarie University, Sydney
Lines: 61

In article <5364@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM> waynekn@tekig5.PEN.TEK.COM (Wayne Knapp) writes:
>So you work for commodore.  Can you tell me is the 3000 going to do 
>anything to fix the real problem of the Amiga -- the limits on the 
>CHIP RAM?  Say making it 32 bit wide and about twice as fast would go
>a longs ways towards making the Amiga really fast. 
>
Or how about dual-porting CHIP RAM, thus pulling contention from both
sides of the bus?  The CPU could access CHIP RAM at the same speed as
FAST RAM, and would only need to differentiate when it needs to place a
structure or data that needs to be accessed by the Terrible Trio. (:-)

On the other side of the bus, Agnus would no longer have to arbitrate
between the processor and the custom chips, which would mean
(theoretically) a doubling of the bandwidth of that channel.  This could
be used for all sorts of nice (and desperately needed) things:

	Giving all sound channels 16 bit resolution
        Giving the new "productivity" graphic mode
        a decent number of bit planes.

	etc... etc... etc...

Yes, I do know that dual porting RAM is not easy, but then CBM does have
its semiconductor group to solve problems just like these.

Just a simple suggestion, folks.

"A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist."
                                       Sir Humphrey Appleby
                                       (Patron Saint of Public Servants)
                                       Yes, Minister.
    
                                   Yes, Prime Minister.

+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+
|  Ian Farquhar                     | Phone : (02)  805-7420 (STD)  | 
|  Microcomputer Support            |         (612) 805-7420 (ISD)  |
|  Office of Computing Services     | Fax   : (02)  805-7433 (STD)  |
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Den



"A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist."
                                       Sir Humphrey Appleby
                                       (Patron Saint of Public Servants)
                                       Yes, Minister.
    
                                   Yes, Prime Minister.

+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+
|  Ian Farquhar                     | Phone : (02)  805-7420 (STD)  | 
|  Microcomputer Support            |         (612) 805-7420 (ISD)  |
|  Office of Computing Services     | Fax   : (02)  805-7433 (STD)  |
|  Macquarie University  NSW  2109  |         (612) 805-7433 (ISD)  |
|  Australia                        | Also  :       805-7205        |
+-----------------------------------+-------------------------------+

D