Ideas for a simple, but somewhat extendable computer bus

[Jim Brain]

On 11/19/2017 2:43 PM, Eric Smith wrote:
>
> Similarly for how the card deals with interrupts, but using the IEI 
> and IEO as the daisy chain.
Thanks for the context.  I think the fact that !BUSAK is present on A31 
threw me

https://www.retrobrewcomputers.org/lib/exe/fetch.php?media=boards:ecb:backplane-3:backplane.pdf

and the fact that I don't see that the ECB routes BUSAK from the CPU 
card to BAI of the first slot

>
> Parallel arbitration can be done with the same slot pin assignments, 
> but instead of busing the request and daisy-chaining the acknowledge, 
> the requests are each separately fed into a priority encoder.  The 
> "any" output of the encoder goes to the request input of the CPU.  The 
> acknowledge from the CPU goes into the enable of a decoder, and the 
> select inputs of the decoder come from the priority encoder, so that 
> each slot gets its own decoded acknowledge signal to its BAI input.  
> In this case the backplane doesn't connect the BAO output of a slot to 
> anything.   This parallel arbitration scheme can be used for bus 
> request and/or interrupt request.
I like this idea better.  Is there any implementation docs you might 
suggest? (I have the Bus Handbook on order, but it has not arrived)

I also am unclear on how ECB handles dual CPUs, if it does at all.

Jim
>
> Eric
>

-- 
Jim Brain
brain at jbrain.com
www.jbrain.com