IBM, Texas Instruments, EMC and four other companies are joining the HyperTransport consortium this week, a move that will likely expand the places where the chip-to-chip connection gets used.
HyperTransport is a protocol that, when embodied in silicon, shuttles data at a high rate of speed--6.4 gigabytes to 12.8 gigabytes per second--between different chips in the same box. It could be used to link a microprocessor with a chipset that organizes input/output functions, for example, or two communications processors in a router. Read More Advanced Micro Devices includes HyperTransport links on its Opteron processor. The Nvidia chipset inside Microsoft's Xbox also features a HyperTransport link. The new members will essentially pave the way for HyperTransport to enter a wider variety of markets, said Bob Napaa, vice president of the consortium and vice president of marketing at Alliance Semiconductor. EMC and Network Appliance, which is also joining, are two of the larger companies in storage. Whole article: Cnet News
via NeoWin