KOSH [Kommunity Orientated Software Hardware]

Weekly Summary

Week:  11th January 1999

Number: 005

Mailing List: kosh-hardware-o

In the mailing list this week, the following items were discussed.
Please do not email the scribe regarding any of these topics, it is 
not his job to answer these questions, but merely to report the topics
of conversation. If you have any queries about this summary, please 
email summaries@kosh.convergence.org, stating the Summary Number, and
Mailing List Name and he will try to answer your queries.

a)

Subject:  Distributed processing

Summary of Debate:  If we had console sized kosh systems, it would
		    be cool if we could easily connect them together
		    to increase processing power.  Another aproach
		    is to support distributing processes over the 
		    internet.  QNX Neutrino supports a form of
		    distributed processing.
                         Transparent distributed processing over
		    a network would be cool, ie. the os figures out
		    which machines on the network are idle and
		    transfers the load to them.  There are plans to
		    include some of this in the next version of 
		    POV-Ray.

b)

Subject:  3D imaging

Summary of Debate:  If you are using a vacumm to terminate a laser
		    beam, how do you stop that beam when it leaves
		    the device?  Other solutions using two laser
		    beams were proposed.  In one a transparent 
		    fluorescent material is used for the medium, and 
		    two weak beams are used such that only when they 
		    intersect do they become visible.  In the other
		    beams are actually added to each other, in a
		    manner which produces a third beam with a 
		    frequency the sum of the two initial beams.  The
		    first two could be infared (invisible) and their
		    frequencies could be varied to change the color
		    of the third beam.  Unfortunately this effect 
		    isn't efficient enough to be used in the way
		    in which we want. 

c)

Subject:  Alternatives to x86 architecture.

Summary of Debate:  CHRP was mentioned as a possiblity for the Kosh
		    console systems.  Several people on the list
		    remember transputers, the technology was bought
		    from Inmos by another company.  They are still
		    used in embeded systems but would not be fast
		    enough for kosh.  TI and ADI both make boards with
		    setups similar to transputers for DSP work.