Mediator PCI Z-IV
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 1200 with
Zorro IV busboard and 1240 turbo card with 16MB RAM.
The recommended configuration is: Amiga 1200 with Zorro IV in a
Winner/Power/E-BOX tower case, any 68060 (or PPC with 68060) turbo card with
64MB RAM, a SharkPPC G3/G4 card with 128MB SDRAM, a Voodoo3 graphic card.
The Mediator PCI Z-IV features:
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4 PCI slots (PCI 2.1 compatible)
For simultaneous use of up to four 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 Z-IV allows access to the entire 4GB of the PCI memory space. Access to the entire PCI memory space is executed through the 8MB window in the A1200 memory 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 Z-IV 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 four PCI busmaster cards may be used simultaneously in Mediator.
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SDRAM/SGRAM of PCI gfx card as system memory
Mediator PCI Z-IV uses 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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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 Z-IV enables simultaneous operation of PCI cards in its slots and Zorro II/IV cards installed in the Zorro IV busboard.
Mediator PCI Z-IV is compatible with all the major A1200 turbo card models.
Mediator PCI Z-IV is designed for the following turbo cards:
Blizzard PPC/060,
Blizzard PPC/040,
Blizzard 1260, Apollo 1260,
Blizzard 1240 and Apollo 1240.
Mediator PCI Z-IV, PCI cards in its slots and Zorro II cards in Zorro IV busboard
slots fit perfectly in the following tower systems: Winner/Power/E-BOX 1200 Tower, V-Tower,
Infinitiv Tower, EZ Tower.
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 Z-IV 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 Z-IV can also be obtained with an extended software pack including the
Mediator Multimedia CD.
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