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From: slp9m@cc.usu.edu (Scott E. Parker)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac.comm,comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Mac <-- VME communications: Suggestions sought
Message-ID: <1991Jun26.163426.48242@cc.usu.edu>
Date: 26 Jun 91 22:34:26 GMT
Organization: Utah State University
Lines: 29


I need to get data from a VME bus based machine into a Mac II as fast as
possible.  I have seen (but can't remember where) cards that let macs 
arbitrate for and read from the VME bus directly.  Can anyone provide
references?  Is this the way to go?  What other options exist?  Pros & cons?
I'm open to all comments and suggestions.  The following two paragraphs are
supplimentary reading for potential respondants who would like more back-
ground on the actual problem.  Advance thanks     -SEP

I need to speed up communications between a mac and a custom built VME bus
machine and am open to suggestions on the best approach.  The VME bus 
machine is a radar used for middle and upper atmospheric research and thus
will be refered to hereafter as "the radar".

The situation is this:  The radar can be viewed as a very proficient data
generator.  The actual data rate depends on the mode of operation, but the
last campaign it was involved in it was churning out 8000 bytes/sec of data.
This was in a rather slow mode.  The Mac's function is to take this data
and produce graphics in real time.  Since the data is recorded on tape and
analyzed after the fact, the mac has in the past been a rather low priority.
The only means of communication between the two devices until now has been
a serial line at 56 kbaud (read: bottleneck).

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