HyperTransport är en databuss som med framgång används av bland annat AMD för sin K8-processorarkitektur, nu har HyperTransport Consortiumet tillkännagivigt att man satt specifikationerna för den senaste HyperTransport-standarden. HyperTransport 3.0 tar vid efter HT 2.0 och gör det med nästan fördubblad databandbredd genom en betydligt högre klockfrekvens. HT 2.0 använde sig av en maximal klockfrekvens på 1.4GHz medan HT 3.0 standarden ökat denna klockfrekvens till hela 2.6GHz och därmed tryckt upp bandbredden till imponerande 41.6GB/s. Utöver en maximal bandbreddsökning på 86% från HyperTransport 2.0 finns det ett flertal nyheter i HT 3.0 specifikationen som kan vara intressant för utvecklare.
Technical Features and Benefits of HyperTransport 3.0
· AC mode (Optional) An innovative AC interconnect mode complements HyperTransports traditional DC mode, featuring capacitor coupling, AC/DC auto-sensing and auto-configuring capabilities. The feature extends HyperTransports maximum signal transmission distance to 1 meter at maximum specified clock speed with no signal transmission or performance degradation. As a result, the HyperTransport standard can now support long-haul signal transmission typical of backplane and chassis-to-chassis applications. During power-up and in total transparency to system software, HyperTransport 3.0 auto-senses the presence of coupling capacitors (AC) and/or direct connections (DC) within the HyperTransport interconnect fabric and automatically configures each portion of it accordingly.
· Hot plugging HyperTransport technology-enabled devices can be added to or removed from the HyperTransport fabric without disrupting system operations. HyperTransport cards, systems and subsystems can therefore be deployed in backplane and any mission-critical platforms requiring high system availability.
· Un-ganging mode (Optional) During system power-up and transparently to system software, 1×16 HyperTransport links can optionally be configured as 2×8 virtual links. This gives system architects extended interconnect flexibility and the ability to fully leverage existing HyperTransport components and cores. Un-ganging mode is particularly valuable in multiprocessor and symmetric multiprocessing environments.
· Power Management Mode HyperTransport 3.0 carries dynamic, auto-sensing, hardwarebased, self-configuring power management capabilities that give end products the intelligence to best optimize the power consumption of each of their HyperTransport components and modules in real-time and transparently to operating system (OS) and application software.
