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From: ching@snap.amd.com (Mike Ching)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Fiber channels (was Re: The Killer Micro From Hell)
Message-ID: <28758@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Date: 12 Jan 90 03:19:58 GMT
References: <34030@mips.mips.COM> <4322@nttmhs.ntt.JP> <39807@ames.arc.nasa.gov> <3101@umn-d-ub.D.UMN.EDU> <40043@ames.arc.nasa.gov> <47800@sgi.sgi.com> <94@zds-ux.UUCP>
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Reply-To: ching@snap.AMD.COM (Mike Ching)
Organization: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Sunnyvale CA
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In article <94@zds-ux.UUCP> gerry@zds-ux.UUCP (Gerry Gleason) writes:
-
-That reminds me, I've been thinking about the possibility of fiber as a
-replacement for SCSI and/or present LAN technologies.  The application
-would be more typical desktop micro's, not killer micro's so the bandwidth
-doesn't need to be pushing the limits, and cost is a much more important
-factor.  To be practical, the implementation would be constrained as
-follows:
-
-	1)  Bandwidth appropriate to cheap optoelectronics and serial
-	    to parallel conversion.  Preferably a single chip that
-	    can directly drive an infra-red LED.
-	2)  Bandwidth fast enough to beat (or at least tie) what it
-	    replaces (SCSI = 1-40MB/s =~10-300M bits/s >> Ethernet).
-	3)  Cheap, simple connectors and cables.  I recently read
-	    about plastic fibers, which are thicker so they capture
-	    light from higher angles, which should also imply that
-	    the connectors don't need to be a precisely made (any
-	    comments on this?).
-
-So, is this reasonable?  What are the limits of "cheap" opto-electronics
-(for me, cheap is < 10$ for a transmitter and reciever, with an expectation
-that it could be 1/10 that for large quantities in a year or two).  If it's
-cheap enough it could be applied to interconnecting digital audio and video
-components too.
-
-Gerry Gleason

At AMD we have toyed with the idea of building a SCSI cable using our TAXI
transceivers (32-140Mbit serial data rate) and fiber. We estimated that the
cable would probably cost $75. I suppose a large market would drive the cost
down.

Mike Ching