brian@babbage.csus.edu (Brian Witt) (11/06/90)
History question:
The ANSI subgroup A3T9.3 is(was) charged with creating an Intelligent
Peripheral Interface (IPI). "IPI defines a scheme to interconnect somewhat
higher-end peripherals [than SCSI]. to host adapters over a parallel
bus. At the link layer, IPI sends data in the form of packets, much
like a local network."
What has happened to this standard? Did it group evolve or die?
Should this question be posted to something like: comp.lan? Please reply
by email if possible; I doubt many others are interested.
Background:
I was reading a reprint article from a July 1984 "Data Communications"
magazine (copyright 1984 McGraw-Hill, Inc) called "New standards for
local networks push upper limits for lightwave data" by two people from
Advanced Micro Devices. The reprint is in "Electronic Press" describing
Am7990/92A Ethernet chips. On page 4 of this little booklet there is
a table about the standards groups. It likes the ANSI subgroup
activits of the X3T9 Committee and charters of some subgroups. The
subgroup X3T9.2 creates SCSI, the subgroup X3T9.5 does LAN's. In
1984 there was a group X3T9.3 charged with Intelligent Peripheral Interface
(IPI).
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You are what you click | (and if you click it twice...)
brian witt | brian@babbage.ecs.csus.edu
-----------------------------------------------------------------kriger@Xylogics.COM (Sidney Kriger) (11/10/90)
IPI-2 is a device level disk interface. Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC and Seagate all make IPI-2 disk drives. Drives now exist with transfer rates up to 6 MB/sec and soon up to 9 MB/sec. Silicon Graphics, Solbourne and Sun all offer systems with IPI-2 disk subsystems now. Xylogics makes IPI-2 disk controllers for VMEbus systems. IPI-3 is a device generic interface (like SCSI). It has not made it very far in the marketplace. I'm not sure of any OEMs using IPI-3. Little third party activity has evolved. IPI-3 is what you are referring to when you mention "packets". Some companies are investigating using the "protocol" of IPI-3 over HPPI or fiber-channel "like a network". The standards have all been approved. The committee still exists and is working on extending the standard beyond the original 10 MB/sec physical limits and on adding features (ZBR and buffering on drives, etc.). Sidney Kriger Xylogics, Inc. voice: 617-272-8140 53 Third Ave. fax: 617-273-5392 Burlington, MA 01803 email: kriger@Xylogics.COM They don't know that I know how to post, so I'm sure they can't be responsible for what I post, when for them it doesn't even exist.
ghg@en.ecn.purdue.edu (George Goble) (11/10/90)
In article <10228@xenna.Xylogics.COM> kriger@Xylogics.COM (Sidney Kriger) writes: > >IPI-3 is a device generic interface (like SCSI). It has not made it very >far in the marketplace. I'm not sure of any OEMs using IPI-3. Little third >party activity has evolved. IPI-3 is what you are referring to when you Gould had IPI-3 working back in 1987 on the NP-1 machines. Nobody ever made direct IPI-3 disks (and still don't), so the disks had a "DIM" (Disk Intelligent Module) to convert between SMD and IPI-3. IPI-2 is just now starting to take off in a big way in the last year or so in the rest of the marketplace. --ghg