Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: One aspect of bandwidth (backplane bus)
Message-ID: <1989Apr22.225625.5883@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <407@bnr-fos.UUCP> <17500@obiwan.mips.COM> <17527@winchester.mips.COM> <25241@amdcad.AMD.COM> <199@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM>
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 89 22:56:25 GMT

In article <199@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM> kleonard@gvlv2.GVL.Unisys.COM (Ken Leonard) writes:
>...We haven't completely figured out how to deal 
>with the "where-to-send-this-piece" info for a given "block" as fast as we can 
>move the piece...

Are you familiar with Chesson's "protocol engine" work?  He's looking at
a fully general virtual-circuit protocol that can keep up with 100Mbps FDDI.
Yes, it's done in hardware.  The protocol is carefully organized so it can
be processed "on the fly", i.e. the hardware can keep up with 100Mpbs
indefinitely, not just in bursts, provided there's somewhere for the data
to go at that speed.
-- 
Mars in 1980s:  USSR, 2 tries, |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
2 failures; USA, 0 tries.      | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry@zoo.toronto.edu