COMPUTER BUSES

1
COMPUTER BUSES

• BUS A BUS IS A COMMON ELECTRICAL PATHWAY BETWEEN
  MULTIPLE DEVICES.
• BUSES CAN BE CATEGORIZED BY FUNCTION. THEY CAN BE
  USED INTERNAL TO THE CPU TO TRANSFER DATA TO AND
  FROM THE ALU, OR EXTERNAL TO THE CPU, TO CONNECT
  IT TO MEMORY OR TO I/O DEVICES.
• SYSTEM BUS EXTERNAL BUS LOCATED ON THE
  MOTHERBOARD, WITH CONNECTORS SPACED AT REGULAR
  INTERVALS FOR PLUGGING IN MEMORY AND I/O BOARDS.

2
COMPUTER BUSES

• BUS PROTOCOL RULES ABOUT HOW THE BUS WORKS, AND
  WHICH ALL DEVICES ATTACHED TO IT MUST OBEY. ALSO
  CONSISTS OF MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL
  SPECIFICATIONS, FOR CONNECTORS, VOLTAGES, TIMING
  ETC.
• CURRENTLY MANY DIFFERENT SPECIFICATIONS AVAILABLE
  (SCSI, IDE, FIREWIRE, USB ETC.)
• ADDITIONAL DETAILS IN SECTIONS 3.4 AND 3.6