Let's talk processors
This week's assignment was to make processors talk to each other. I decided to experiment with CBA's new APA network. From my understanding, this is how it works: APA is a simple protocol that handles naming, routing, and flow control. Each node is treated as an independend processor, and each node has several txrx ports. APA uses "packets." Each packet is source routed, meaning it contains the address where it came from. The network is synchronous, so each node accepts data only when it's free. Each node has three ports, 0, 1, and 2. As the packet moves from node to node, it replaces the number of the port in came in through, which is how it knows where to go, by the number of the port by which it left. So when the packet reaches it's final destination, it has a "return address" and knows how to get back to it's origin. This network is dependent on knowing the geometry and layout of the network. Instead of a person hardcoding the address of where the packet needs to go, the address is determined by the layout geometry of the network.
the MTM snap
Joe and I finished assembling the MTM snap, and began to incorporate the electronics.
