On Fri, Dec 22, 2023 at 10:20 PM Chuck Guzis via cctalk <[email protected]> wrote: > Sync (Bisync, SDLC/HDLC) was fairly popular back in the day for linking > with mainframes. (Think, for example, IBM HASP). On PCs and the like, > the Intel 8251 was used a lot, but even the Signetics 2651 has the sync > mode, with the ability to recognize a double-byte sync.
The COMBOARD line of Bisync and SNA protocol engines came out of the HASPBOX product, which was 100% DEC hardware, so we started with a COM5025 (same as at least one of DEC's sync seral boards) and we later moved to the Zilog Z8530 (but only ever used its second port as a local async debug port) > The protocol for any of the above higher-level protocols is fairly > complex and there are manuals for that Yeah, implementing Bisync from scratch on a new platform would be quite an effort. There are a few poorly-documented "gotchas" to work through/around. -ethan
