DIM: A network compatible intermediate interface standard

Abstract

The salient features of DIM, the standard interface used by the MININET instrumentation network, are described. In its most basic form this interface supports all the normal interactions between a computer and a peripheral or another computer, either directly or via a transparent communication link or network. It consists of 16 parallel bidirectional data lines, a data class flag to distinguish between end-user data and interface control information, and two pairs of handshake lines to control transfers in either direction. The basic interface may be extended with up to six address lines and separate parity lines for address and data. The computer-peripheral convention defines the initialization, flow control and exception procedures and assigns the format of the control class transfers to allow the design of peripheral-independent computer interfaces.