Out in Front: December 21, 1995

The IEEE Computer Society has approved a standard for a scalable serial link. The standard, "IEEE 1355-1995 Standard for Heterogeneous Interconnect," defines a low-cost, low-latency, scalable, high-speed serial interconnect scheme for parallel-system construction. The standard is based on the work of the Open Microprocessor Initiative (OMI)-Heterogeneous Interprocessor Communications Esprit Project. The standard has the support of the European Union.

The standard suits high-performance systems employing parallel processing or concurrent I/O. These applications include asynchronous-transfer-mode switches; computer peripherals, such as redundant-array-of-inexpensive-disk (RAID) systems; mainframe computers; and massively parallel supercomputers. The interconnection scheme in these applications must be high-speed, low-latency, and scalable.

For more information on P1355, contact Working Group Chairman Colin Whitby Stevens or Bus Architecture Standards Committee Sponsor Chairman Joe George. You can reach Stevens at SGS-Thomson Microelectronics (Bristol, UK) via phone at +44-1454-611500, fax at +44-1454-617910, or e-mail at colinws@ bristol.st.com. Contact George at Nanotek (Idaho Falls, ID) via phone at (208) 523-4468, fax at (208) 523-4469, or e-mail at joe@nanotek.com. -- by Fran Granville

IEEE Computer Society, Washington, DC. (202) 371-0101 or (800) 272-6657.