Mediator PCI 4000Di
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 4000D in the standard desktop
case. The recommended configuration is: Amiga 4000D in the standard desktop
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 4000Di features:
-
4 PCI slots (PCI 2.1 compatible)
For simultaneous use of up to four PCI cards fully assimilated in the Amiga environment.
-
3 Zorro III/II slots
For simultaneous use of up to three Zorro III/II cards.
-
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.
-
32-bit PCI datapatch
Longword transfers are supported in all data transfer types: PCI to Amiga, Amiga to PCI
and PCI to PCI.
-
4GB PCI memory space
Mediator PCI 4000Di 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.
-
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.
-
SDRAM/SGRAM of PCI gfx card as system memory
Mediator PCI 4000Di 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.
-
DMA to A4000 motherboard space
Mediator PCI 4000Di includes a busmastering controller supporting transfers between
PCI cards and the A4000 motherboard space.
-
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.
-
Interrupt controller (4 lines)
The Mediator Interrupt Controller manages four independent PCI interrupt lines.
-
PCI and Zorro
Mediator PCI 4000Di enables simultaneous operation of up to four PCI cards and
up to three Zorro III/II cards.
Mediator PCI 4000Di is compatible with all A4000 processor card models.
Installation is very easy. Simply replace the original Commodore A4000 Daugther
Board with new Mediator PCI 4000Di. Mediator PCI 4000Di, PCI, Zorro III and Zorro II
cards in the slots fit perfectly in the standard A4000 desktop case.
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 4000Di 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 4000Di can also be obtained with an extended software pack including
the Mediator Multimedia CD.
|
