johnt@hammer.TEK.COM (John Theus) (06/19/87)
In response to the requests I have received for sources of additional information about Futurebus, here is what I know. An readily available starting point is IEEE Micro, Vol 4, No 4, Aug 1984. This issue contains 4 articles written by Futurebus committee members. As these articles were written some time ago, the protocols have been massaged slightly, but the philosophy and fundamentals are accurate. A little more recent document is the "Futurebus Tutorial", available free of charge while supplies last from Randy Davis (see below). As I mentioned in my previous article, there is an active European Manufacturer's and Users' group called FMUG. A U.S. group is just starting up. Addresses for officers in both groups are listed below. The secretary has available, for reproduction costs, every article and document published about Futurebus. Write or call for a list of documents. Until the US FMUG is up and running, and Rob Wilson has sent Randy Davis his library of Futurebus documents, people should contact Barry Mallett. Eventually Randy will be able to respond to requests for information on all documents, not just the tutorial. The Futurebus specification, IEEE 896.1, was conditionally approved by the IEEE standards board June 11. Some fairly minor editorial changes are needed to remove the conditional status. The Futurebus document will not be available from the IEEE for a couple of months as it goes through the printing process. The IEEE makes their money by selling these, so they frown upon committee members who hand out copies. For those of you that are interested in joining or monitoring the activities, the next meeting of the P896.2 cache coherence task group is scheduled for Aug. 10, from 9 to 5, hosted by Altos Computer Systems, 2641 Orchard Pkwy, San Jose, CA. The meeting will be chaired by Paul Sweazey, National Semi. He can be reached for further information at (408) 721-5860. The next day, Aug. 11, the bus repeater, message passing, and CSR space task groups will meet, again from 9 to 5. I think this meeting is going to be hosted by National in their building 19. Call the task group coordinator Dave Gustavson, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, at (415) 854-3300 x2863 for information. All meetings are open to the public. You become a voting member by attending or contributing to 2 meetings. Here is a list of Futurebus Manufacturers' and Users' Group information sources: European FMUG Officers ---------------------- Chairman Bob Squirrell Dean Microsystems Unit 7, Horseshoe Park Pangbourne, Reading RG8 7JW England (0) 7357-5155 Secretary (European Information Distribution) Barry Mallett Plessy Microsystems Water Lane Towcester, Northants NN12 7JN England (0) 327 50312 ext. 2294 Information Officer Rob Wilson National Semiconductor The Maple, Kembrey Park Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 6UT Treasurer Alan Timmins BICC-VERO US FMUG Officers ---------------------------- Acting Chairman Michael Humphrey BICC-VERO 1000 Sherman Ave Hamden, CT 06514 Acting Information Officer (US Information Distribution) Randall Davis National Semiconductor MS 16-197 2900 Semiconductor Dr Santa Clara, CA 95052 --------------------------------------------- John Theus johnt@hammer.gwd.tek.com or tektronix!hammer!johnt P896.1 parallel protocol task group coordinator P896.2 cache task group and bus repeater task group member