Mediator PCI 3000T/4000T
The Mediator is a PCI implementation for connecting PCI devices in Amiga computers,
allowing expansion of Amiga with all kinds of industry standard hardware products
like graphic, sound, network, USB, TV tuner, ISDN and MPEG-2 hardware decoder PCI cards.
Moreover, the Mediator PCI busboard is ready for SharkPPC PCI cards based on the latest
PowerPC G3 and G4 processors.
The minimum hardware configuration is: Amiga 3000T (original) or Amiga 4000T
(original). The recommended configuration is: Amiga 3000T (original) or Amiga 4000T
(original) with any 68060 (or PPC with 68060) turbo card with 128MB RAM, a SharkPPC G3/G4
card with 128MB SDRAM, a Voodoo3 graphic card.
The Mediator PCI 3/4000T features:
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5 PCI slots (PCI 2.1 compatible)
For simultaneous use of up to five PCI cards fully assimilated in the Amiga environment.
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33MHz PCI clock (66MHz with SharkPPC G3/G4)
With the PCI clock running at 33MHz, data transfers are executed with the bandwidth of
up to 132MB/s and up to 264MB/s for 66MHz clocking.
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32-bit PCI datapatch
Longword transfers are supported in all data transfer types: PCI to Amiga, Amiga to PCI
and PCI to PCI.
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4GB PCI memory space
Mediator PCI 3/4000T allows access to the entire 4GB of the PCI memory space. Access
to the entire PCI memory space is executed through the 512MB window in the Zorro III
space. With a hardware-supported paging mechanism, PCI memory access is executed without
any slowdown compared to the linear memory access.
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Busmastering/DMA in all PCI slots
Mediator PCI supports the busmastering mechanism in all its PCI slots. The PCI cards
in the busmaster mode can offer extremely fast DMA access (up to 132MB/s) without any
CPU load. Up to five PCI busmaster cards may be used simultaneously in Mediator.
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SDRAM/SGRAM of PCI gfx card as system memory
Mediator PCI 3/4000T can use part of the graphic card memory for Amiga system needs.
Thus, the entire system gains in effectiveness as graphic card's SDRAM/SGRAM memory
modules are about 10x faster than FastRAM memory in Amiga turbo cards. With very short
access time in SDRAM/SGRAM, several PCI busmaster cards may use this memory
simultaneously. The PCI cards may then rush at the data transfer rate of up to 132MB/s
without any CPU load whatsoever.
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DMA to A3/4000 motherboard space
Mediator PCI 3/4000T includes a busmastering controller supporting transfers between
PCI cards and the A3/4000 motherboard space.
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Address and data parity control support
Address and data parity are supported in all Mediator slots. Parity support is necessary
for using PCI cards like Sound Blaster Audigy, Sound Blaster Live! or ForteMedia
FM801-based PCI cards.
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Interrupt controller (4 lines)
The Mediator Interrupt Controller manages four independent PCI interrupt lines.
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PCI and Zorro
Mediator PCI 3/4000T enables simultaneous operation of PCI cards in its slots and up to
four Zorro III/II cards in the motherboard slots.
Mediator PCI 3/4000T is compatible with all A3/4000 processor card models.
Mediator PCI 3/4000T, PCI cards in its slots, Zorro III and Zorro II cards in motherboard
slots fit perfectly in original A3000 and A4000 Towers.
The following PCI cards are currently supported in Mediator PCI 1200:
The following PCI card support is currently being developed:
- I/O cards
- MPEG-2 hardware decoders
The Mediator PCI 3/4000T is available with a standard software pack: 2D and Warp3D Voodoo3
graphic drivers, Voodoo4 and Voodoo5 24-bit 2D graphic drivers, S3 ViRGE and S3 ViRGE DX 2D
graphic drivers and Ethernet 10Mbps network drivers.
Mediator PCI 3/4000T can also be obtained with an extended software pack including the
Mediator Multimedia CD.
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