gsc(4) - NetBSD Manual Pages

GSC(4)               NetBSD/hppa Kernel Interfaces Manual               GSC(4)


NAME

     gsc -- General System Connect bus on HP 9000/700 machines


SYNOPSIS

     gsc* at lasi?
     gsc* at asp?
     gsc* at wax?


DESCRIPTION

     This is the core I/O bus for all HP 9000/700 workstations.  All I/O sub-
     systems connect to this bus.  The devices can be either on separate
     chips, expansion cards or on an integrated megacell, like the LASI MBA.

     The GSC bus is a 32-bit wide, address and data multiplexed bus.  In its
     "standard" implementation it has a maximum throughput of 160MB/s, the
     "2x" implementation reaches up to 250MB/s.  Some HPPA CPUs directly
     attach to this bus, namely the PA7100LC and PA7300LC.

     As for the expansion cards, there are different form-factors, depending
     on bus-speed (standard or 2x) and specific models.  The standard formfac-
     tor is the "EISA form-factor"; cards that look like typical EISA cards
     with a different connector (100-pin female EBBL).  The Series 712 have
     their own special type of GSC expansion cards, called the "GIO form-fac-
     tor", which is quite small and mostly has only one VLSI chip on it (in
     most cases LASI/WAX).  Newer systems sometimes feature the "HSC formfac-
     tor", which is a 1U-VME card-like expansion card with a 100-pin male
     pin+socket connector.  Mixing cards with different speeds is supported
     but downgrades the performance of the whole I/O-subsystem.


SUPPORTED DEVICES

     The system includes machine-dependent GSC drivers, sorted by driver name:

           com(4)        RS-232 ports.
           hppa/gsckbc(4)
                         PC-style keyboard controller.
           hppa/harmony(4)
                         CS4215/AD1849 audio.
           hil(4)        Human Interface Loop, for HP-proprietary input
                         devices like keyboard and mice.
           iee(4)        Intel i82596 DX/CA 32-bit LAN coprocessor.
           lpt(4)        Centronics printer port.
           oosiop(4)     Symbios/NCR 53C700 SCSI I/O Processor.
           osiop(4)      Symbios/NCR 53C710 SCSI I/O Processor.

     Some of these GSC devices also have PCI, EISA, or ISA equivalents.  These
     are listed in pci(4), eisa(4), or isa(4).


SEE ALSO

     hppa/asp(4), hppa/cpu(4), hppa/intro(4), hppa/lasi(4), hppa/wax(4)


HISTORY

     The gsc driver appeared in OpenBSD 2.6.  It was ported to NetBSD 1.6 by
     Matthew Fredette.

NetBSD 9.1                     February 17, 2017                    NetBSD 9.1