Re: pci extensions (was: *New* PCI bus standard?)

[Alan Deikman <Alan.Deikman@znyx.com>]

>From: Darrel Peterson <DPeterson@mapletreenetworks.com>

>I am looking for information about the latest extensions being proposed.
>Specifically, the extensions to double the speed of the bus to 133 MHZ.
>I seen an article that stated HP, Compaq, and IBM were working on an
>extension.  I would appreciate it if you could point me in the right
>direction.

Last weekend I posted a letter about a mention of this from
the SJ Mercury News, asking if anyone had more information.  
The September 7 issue of EE Times has this same teaser on
the front page.  The only information it added was the notion
of a 133MHz bus, and that Intel was contemplating a "competing"
I/O technology, a gigabit serial bus.

The silence on this list on this subject has been deafening.  
I can only conclude that either nobody here knows about it 
or those that do know about it have been instructed not to 
squeal.

Well, I know there are plenty of readers here who could
knowledgeably comment on the following questions:

  1.  How feasible is 133MHz bus clocking/signalling
      really with the current art of silicon?  Could
      you really pump it through a connector or would
      this be an on-board-only technology?

  2.  How would a gigabit serial bus compete with
      64-bit, 33MHz PCI?   Convenience?  Cost?
      USB and Firewire sure have been slow to take
      off.

I'd be interested in any comments.  'Till then, see
you at the FCC test sight.  ;)

Regards,

-----------------------
  Alan.Deikman@znyx.com