News update as of September 2001:
At long last the IEC/IEEE publications deadlock has been resolved, and the corrected SCI spec has been published by the IEC as "ISO/IEC Standard 13961 IEEE". Unfortunately, the updated diskette was not incorporated. However, the updated C code is online, at sciCode.c text file (1114K). This release does not have the separate index file that shipped on the original diskette, because with the passage of time we lost the right of access to the particular software that generated that index. (People change employers.)
Unfortunately, the IEEE completely bungled the update, reprinting the old uncorrected standard with a new cover and a few cosmetic changes. Until this has been corrected, the IEEE spec should be avoided.
We now return you to the very stale content of the remainder of this page:
The SCI standard (IEEE Std 1596-1992) can be ordered from the IEEE Service Center at 1-800-678-4333 (US) or ++1-732-562-3800 (fax ++1-732-981-9667), just like any other IEEE standard. The postal address is:
IEEE Service Center 445 Hoes Lane POB 1331 Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA
The price of the standard is $89+$5 handling (US). Substantial member discounts apply ($62.30+$5 for IEEE members).
An alternate source is the IEEE Computer Society office in Los Alamitos, CA, which may be able to offer faster delivery to some people and offers better discounts to those who are Computer Society but not IEEE members. The Computer Society numbers are: 1-800-272-6657 (outside California), ++1-714-821-8380 (inside California or international), fax ++1-714-821-4641.
We have had some complaints about confusion and poor service from the
Service Center. Please keep track of who you talk to and let
dbg@SCIzzL.com know the
details if you have trouble, as we need to get this problem fixed. You may
be able to get the standard directly from the IEEE Standards Department if
the Service Center has mislaid it again.
Please fill out the SCIzzL database entry form so you can be added to the SCI mailing list for notification of future meetings and mailings.
The C-code for the SCI Standard is available on the SCIzzL ftp server. The server has a better version than the one on the diskette that comes with the SCI standard, because all the bugs we know of have been fixed in the server version, while the published version remains unchanged. The files available are: readMe text (1K), sciCode.c text (1111K), and sciIndex.a text (116K).
Some documents on the ftp server that may be of interest include three Joint Advanced Strike Technology documents,
JAST avionics applications v1, Adobe PDF (805K),
JAST avionics architecture v1, Adobe PDF (511K), and
JAST avionics design rationale v1, Adobe PDF (66K).
JAST is a Navy, Marines, and Air Force coalition to develop a new fighter for prototyping around 1999, production around 2010. This is currently the only such program funded following the F-22 and B-2 programs. As you can imagine, it is difficult to design computer systems that are close to state-of-the-art when dealing with such large projects and such long lead times, and one of the strategies JAST has adopted is to use modular design with a universal interconnect, SCI. SCI is the only technology available that can scale to the future performance requirements and cover all application areas, while handling communication of all kinds throughout an extended vehicle. For comparison, the F-22 uses 7 different buses and networks to cover these applications.
Several theses may be of interest:
Tving's MSc thesis, "Multiprocessor interconnection using SCI," Adobe PDF (1031K) or PostScript (Unix compressed) (388K), goes into some detail about SCI and about the SCI C code.
Hexsel's PhD thesis, Adobe PDF gzip'd (1662K) or PostScript gzip'd (1753K) has full details on performance simulation.
Ross Johnson's PhD thesis, Adobe PDF (1496K) describes the STEM tree-based coherence directory, and has a comprehensive bibliography.
The .pdf files can be viewed by the Adobe Acrobat Reader, available for a variety of platforms from Adobe (no charge) at ftp.adobe.com.
The .gz files are compressed by Gzip, widely available for Unix (GNU) and for the Mac as (175K, binary) or (243K, ascii),
the .Z files are Unix-Compress'd
and the .ps files are PostScript.
The pdf files have the advantage that it is easy to page through them onscreen, do text searches, and even print to non-PostScript printers.
Two reports on the Desk Area Network at the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, TR319, PostScript (gzip compressed) (651K) and TR228, PostScript(UNIX compressed) (59K), by Mark Hayter et al., describe a workstation architecture using ATM for multimedia, and have some discussion of SCI. (The SCI chips weren't available in time to be considered seriously for this project.)
A paper PostScript (Unix compressed) (112K) by Roberto Hexsel and Nigel Topham of Edinburgh University reports the results of performance simulations on an SCI system running various parallel codes, exploring the limits of ring connections.
We have several email reflectors:
sci_announce@sunrise.scu.edu for general-interest announcements, about 1/month.
sci@sunrise.scu.edu for technical discussions, no limits.
sci_rt@sunrise.scu.edu for discussions about SCI RealTime
SyncLink@sunrise.scu.edu for discussions about a future
several GByte/s memory interface standard, P1596.7
sci_c@sunrise.scu.edu for C-code announcements, general comments.
sci_code_bugs@sunrise.scu.edu for reporting C-code bugs.
(Contact dbg@SCIzzL.com to be added to the above lists,
or (better yet) fill out the SCIzzL database entry form with your latest
selection and latest address/phone info.)
The SCIzzL T-shirt is now available, after many requests. You can download a picture as Adobe PDF (40K) or PostScript (44K), or view onscreen the front or back insignia. The familiar triple-SCI-blocks SCIzzL logo is in an aqua color, with some of the letters in red for emphasis. The front says "Let's SCIzzL!" above the logo, and the back has "Local Area MultiProcessor" beneath the logo.
There are some new designs in the works, but not quite ready for display here. We're also interested in your suggestions for additional designs.
A high quality T-shirt, printed front and back, is $20+tax and shipping. This is a considerable discount that SCIzzL negotiated from the normal price for two large color transfers, and there is no royalty or other benefit to SCIzzL hidden in the price. This service is provided at the request of SCIzzL members.
The process uses a color copier, not a silkscreen, which makes prices higher than for mass-produced screen-printed shirts, but on the other hand makes it possible to customize an individual order for particular garment types and sizes.
To order, contact Kalpana Patel at: Shirtique, (408) 736-9206, fax (408) 245-6224 1228 Town Centre Lane, Sunnyvale, CA 94086 (in Sunnyvale Town Center mall, at Mathilda & Iowa or Washington)