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Date:      Mon, 3 May 1999 10:11:58 -0700 (PDT)
From:      "Eric J. Schwertfeger" <ejs@bfd.com>
To:        James Snow <sno@teardrop.org>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Dual K6
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.05.9905031007200.6797-100000@harlie.bfd.com>
In-Reply-To: <Pine.BSF.3.96.990503121344.75102B-100000@silver.teardrop.net>

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On Mon, 3 May 1999, James Snow wrote:

> On Sun, 2 May 1999, Eric J. Schwertfeger wrote:
> 
> > The problem lies in the fact that the K6 implements OPIC verses Intel's
> > APIC protocol, so you'd need both a motherboard and an OS that did OPIC.
> > I haven't seen an motherboard that implements OPIC, so OS support is
> > probably a moot point.
> 
> Pardon my ignorance here, but what are OPIC and APIC? I'm experiencing
> that 'new word' phenomena where you hear it once, and then here it several
> dozen more times in the next few days.

I'm not exactly sure myself, though both terms seem to cover both the
electrical and software interface involved in inter-processor
communications.

The A an APIC stands for "Advanced" and is a method patented by
Intel. The O in OPIC stands for "Open" and is an open standard that does
the same thing without infringing on the patent.  However, because of the
patent(s?) it can't be totally compatible.

This info may be a little fuzzy, as it dates back to the release of the
K6, and I can't remember what the "PIC" stands for.



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