Newsgroups: comp.arch
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!lavaca.uh.edu!menudo.uh.edu!sugar!ficc!peter
From: peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: Translating 64-bit addresses
Message-ID: <N_2AQY@xds13.ferranti.com>
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
References: <6590@hplabsz.HP.COM> <12030@pt.cs.cmu.edu> <6626@hplabsz.HP.COM> <PCG.91Mar15184558@aberdb.test.aber.ac.uk>
Date: Mon, 18 Mar 91 17:24:33 GMT

In article <PCG.91Mar15184558@aberdb.test.aber.ac.uk>, pcg@test.aber.ac.uk (Piercarlo Antonio Grandi) writes:
> No, the speed does not increase a lot. Unless the synchronization is
> done using hardware primitives, which is nonportable, or at least not
> always applicable.

Why is that any less portable than doing a floating multiply using
hardware primitives, for example? Just make "sendMessage" a primitive
operation (put it in a library, for example). Then when you have a
fast hardware mechanism for synchronising message transactions
you can use it. The performance of the Amiga demonstrates that this
is a good idea, and would be badly hurt by the overhead of remapping
because in most cases you don't do a context switch for each message.
-- 
Peter da Silva.  `-_-'  peter@ferranti.com
+1 713 274 5180.  'U`  "Have you hugged your wolf today?"
