Jeroen Smael wrote:
:Hi Laurents '~Grauw' Holts,
Ja hoor, FutureDisk-humor...
:> If any MSX sends a byte all other MSX-computers connected to this
:> network recieve it, is that correct?
:
:Yes, this is indeed correct.
:Sending of a message can only be initiated by the MSX that holds the
:bus token. The message travels all around the network and returns to
:the bus master (the MSX that holds the bus token). This MSX removes
:the message from the network. If the message travels all the way round
:the network the master is assured from the fact that the receiver has
:received the message (otherwise he could not have relayed it to the
:next MSX in the ring).
But this means that every byte recieved has to be sent through to the other
computers exept for the sender. This is already twice as slow. Plus that an
additional ID-byte/nibble has to be sent to indicate from which computer the
byte is sent. This also means a delay which makes it twice as slow. So, all
this together means that when you are using a network with more than two
MSX-computers connected, the speed will be 4x slower than when you're just
connecting 2 MSX-computers. Not to mention the delay between the sender and
the last computer in the ring.
Right now, I'm programming a source to let 2 computers communicate (data has
to be sent by blocks, not by byte). It will be quite fast but it hasn't got
an option for more than 2 MSX-computers. Maybe later.
But... are more than 2 computers so useful? I mean, TRIPLEX was big fun, but
most people won't have more than 2 computers and most games (that's what I
think this thingie is going to be used for mainly) won't work with more than
2 players. At least not my game.
By the way, in a game like triplex the speed can be much faster, for the
data can be put just in a nibble, and the other nibble can be the ID (max.
16 computers...).
~Grauw
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