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From: greg@mojo.SGI.COM (Greg Chesson)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.misc
Subject: Re: Greg Chesson's Protocol Engine technology sold by SGI
Message-ID: <7237@sgi.SGI.COM>
Date: Fri, 23-Oct-87 18:47:56 EST
Article-I.D.: sgi.7237
Posted: Fri Oct 23 18:47:56 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 25-Oct-87 18:13:53 EST
References: <21255@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Sender: daemon@sgi.SGI.COM
Organization: Silicon Graphics Inc, Mountain View, CA
Lines: 35
Summary: protocol engine article



to: Erik Fair, Dave Farber, and others:

The newspaper article quoted in this news group created some undeserved
speculation and masked the enthusiastic and public spirited support
that SGI has for the project and the concept.  SGI has given over
protocol engine technology to Protocol Engines Inc for nominal
reimbursement of costs.  It was not a significant financial
transaction.  SGI engineers and people at other companies continue to
work on the project.

Protocol engine details - protocol, state machines, software emulation
- will be placed in the public domain as has been stated before.  PEI
is modeled after other multi-company consortia such as the group that
standardized the SCSI bus.  It is a corporate shell intended to achieve
the following:
	1) provide a neutral repository for P-engine technology

	2) fund chip fabrication

	3) focus on standards activities

	4) provide multiple sources for chips

	5) push the technology beyond 100 Mbit/sec

Item (1) helps preserve the open  nature of the design and to ensure
that there exists an organization dedicated to P-engine technology.
Item (2) should be obvious, since prototype production is more than I
can accomplish as an internal skunkworks.  Item (4) means that PEI is
working with semiconductor houses to make P-engines become standard
products.  The other items should be self-explanatory.

	Greg Chesson Silicon Graphics 2011 Stierlin Road Mountain View,
	Ca, 94043 (415)962-3496 {sun,pyramid,adobe,allegra,decwrl}!sgi!greg