High-Performance Heterogeneous Interprocessor Communications

OMI/HIC - 7252

Keywords OMI, communications, serial links, fibre optics, IEEE 1355, SCI, ELI

Start Date: 01-APR-92 / Duration: 36 months

Objectives

The objective of the OMI/HIC project is to provide low-cost, high-performance serial interconnect for the OMI. It will develop technologies to provide a range of cost/performance trade-offs within a common protocol framework, at moderate distance scales, ie chip-to-chip, board-to-board, rack-to-rack and room-to-room. Target performance levels are 200 Mbaud, 700 Mbaud to 1 Gbaud, and 2-3 Gbaud. The project aims to:

double the performance of INMOS DS-Links to 200 Mbaud, and provide drivers/receivers for fibre optic interconnect at these speeds (using an encoding developed in the GPMIMD project)
develop 1 Gbaud serial link technology, implemented in 0.5 micron CMOS, with protocols conforming to the OMI high-level interconnect standard
evaluate BiCMOS as a technology for 2-3 Gbaud serial links on copper media and provide drivers/receivers for fibre optic interconnect at 1 Gbaud
provide macrocells supporting the serial link technologies to the ELI library standards
develop routing and interfacing chips based on serial link technology
demonstrate use of the serial links on at least two different processor architectures
demonstrate use of the serial links as a transport mechanism for SCI (IEEE 1596) protocols.

reseults and progress

The design of a higher-speed DS-Link is nearly complete. Prototype CMOS driver and receiver circuits for optical interconnect are being tested. A CMOS chip has been developed to provide a parallel interface to a 1 Gbaud serial link, with built-in support for the lower levels of the protocol stack. A test chip has demonstrated feasibility of 3 GBaud in BiCMOS. A design study for a high-performance routing chip with advanced features has been done. A book has been published about DS-Links and their applications, and the protocols developed within the project are the basis for a draft IEEE standard, p1355.

Further information about HIC is available from the HIC home page.

CONTACT POINT

Dr Colin Whitby-Strevens
INMOS Limited
1000 Aztec West
Almondsbury
UK - Bristol BS12 4SQ
tel: + 44/ 454 611500
fax: + 44/ 454 617910
email: colinws@isnet.inmos.co.uk

Participants

INMOS LTD - UK - C /
THOMSON-SINTRA ASM - F - P /
THOMSON-LCR - F - P /
BULL-SA - F - P /
BULL ITALIA SPA - I - P /
DOLPHIN INTERCONNECT SOLUTIONS - N - A /
UNIVERSITE PIERRE ET MARIE CURIE - F - A

OMI/HIC - 7252, December 1993

please address enquiries to the ESPRIT Information Desk

html version of synopsis by Nick Cook