Silicon Graphics has joined the HyperTransport Technology Consortium, an organization founded to develop, promote and manage specifications of the HyperTransport I/O link technology.
Apple is one of the consortium’s founding members; along with AMD, API NetWorks, Cisco Systems, Nvidia, PMC-Sierra, Sun Microsystems and Transmeta. HyperTransport interconnect technology is a new high-speed, high-performance, point-to-point link for integrated circuits, developed to enable the chips inside of high-performance computer, networking and communications devices to communicate with each other faster than with existing technologies. HyperTransport technology’s bandwidth of 12.8GB/sec purportedly offers up to a 48-fold increase in data throughput, compared with existing system interconnects that typically provide bandwidth up to 266MB/sec.
HyperTransport complements externally visible bus standards like the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), as well as emerging technologies like InfiniBand and 10GB Ethernet. Although initially developed for high-performance personal computer and server platforms, the technology is also gaining momentum in networking and communications devices, embedded applications and other non-PC devices. Multiple products integrating support for HyperTransport technology are in development to support desktop and notebook PCs, workstations and servers and Internet communication devices.
The HyperTransport Technology Consortium is a nonprofit corporation controlled by its members. The consortium promotes the common business interests of providers to the networking, telecommunications, computer and high-performance embedded applications through the conduct of a forum for the future development and adoption of the HyperTransport specification. Product samples using HyperTransport are currently available and other components are planned to be in volume production by the end of 2001.
For more info on HyperTransport see our July 30, Aug. 6 and Aug. 8 articles.