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Are there many (or even any) multi-drop buses in modern computers? I get the impression that these days almost everything is point-to-point links. But I know le
by fanf2 2y ago
Are there many (or even any) multi-drop buses in modern computers? I get the impression that these days almost everything is point-to-point links. But I know less about what’s happening on silicon. I have seen talk of crossbar interconnects on microcontrollers, which (aiui) are more active, unlike passive buses?
- Animats 2y agoMemory controllers with more than one port have an internal arbiter. The ports are connected to various CPUs, GPUs, and I/O devices. Something has to sequence requests to the memory interface. Memory controllers used to be separate chips, but since about 2008 they're usually on the CPU die. Memory arbiters are where atomic operations on memory are actually implemented.
- avianlyric 2y agoI2C buses still tend to turn up in modern computers for running various low level components. Stuff like allowing the CPU to talk to power management systems, controlling fan speeds, RGB lights etc I don’t think there are any high bandwidth multi-drop busses anymore. Electrically multi-drop busses don’t make it easy to ensure the needed signal integrity for high speed busses.