[rescue] Re: I/O coprocessors?

[Gavin Hubbard]

> Are there other microprocessor families with dedicated I/O processors?
> Moto 68k?  Zilog?
> 
> newell

I'm probably completely misunderstanding your question, but many midrange *nix systems have separate dedicated I/O processors. A great example are modern HP 9000 boxes which have a GSP (Guardian Service Processor). Basically a small computer within a computer, it handles all console I/O and provides a watchdog timer as well as logging chassis fault codes and a million other useful things. The newer GSPs even have an inbuilt http server that pushes out a Java based console interface through a dedicated ethernet port. Even the low-end HP 9000 boxes (rp2430 etc) have this technology.

Regards,

Gavin