Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!dgp.toronto.edu!jonah
Newsgroups: comp.arch
From: jonah@dgp.toronto.edu (Jeff Lee)
Subject: processor for graphics terminal [was: PC/AT clones with RISC cpu]
Message-ID: <1990Nov2.000650.18866@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
References: <2081@aber-cs.UUCP> <0093F0E4.0B02A980@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU>
Date: 2 Nov 90 05:06:51 GMT
Lines: 28

sysmgr@KING.ENG.UMD.EDU (Doug Mohney) writes:

>Well, heck with that! How much trouble would it be to build a PC-clone which
>could double as an X-term? I'm talking about a one-piece board with built-in
>Ethernet and 2MB of RAM, and a '386, add a couple sockets for ROMs. 
 [...]
>I guess the best bet would be a modified PC-clone, with the built-in Ethernet,
>some support for a local disk, and an option to replace/toggle-between the
>ROMs for bootup. 

A group here is tossing around a similar idea, but minus the disk
controller and (possibly) plus a SCSI port, with SIMMs for memory
(1/4/16MB).  However, we're considering a RISC processor in place of
the 386 (running at memory speeds to eliminate the cache and reduce the
chip count).  Does anyone working on current small systems design have
any suggestions on how easily [i.e using little glue] current
processors (29K, 88K, MIPS, SPARC, or even [34]86, 680[34]0, or ???)
would or would not fit into such a low-chip count, low-end,
low-quantity(?) product?  Also, how easy is it to add an FPU along
with those chips that don't include it?

Alternatively, does anyone know of an existing board-level product
with at least >=1M pixel memory mapped graphics, CPU,
keyboard/mouse/serial ports, EPROM socket(s), and >=2MB RAM?
Ethernet, SCSI, FPU, and TOD-clock are optional, but full hardware
documentation is essential.

Jeff Lee -- jonah@cs.toronto.edu || utai!jonah