Fiber-Optic Peripheral Interface, Technical Data
   For HP 9000 Series 800 Computer Systems Product Number 27111A
The HP 27111A is a fiber-optic interface card (HP-FL) for connecting
HP 9000 Series 800 systems to HP 7936FL and 7937FL disks that use the
Channel I/O (CIO) backplane. The HP 7936FL and 7937FL use a fiber-optic
disk controller and, when connected to the interface card over a fiber
cable, provide transfer rates up to 5 Mbytes per second.

[Figure 1 (Fiber-ooptic Peripheral Interface diagram)  Caption: none]

The HP 27111A comes standard with a 30-meter fiber-optic cable which
may be replaced with a custom length cable of up to 500 meters. Each
interface and cable can connect up to 8 disks in a daisy chain using a
disk-to-disk bus. The fiber-optic disk controller and disk-to-disk bus
are products from HP Disk Memory Division (DMD).

Features
o High-speed data throughput of 5 Mbytes/s
-  Command queuing and seek reordering for high performance in
    multiuser applications
-  32-byte buffer for full-speed CIO transfers
-  Rapid logical channel switching
-  64 virtual circuits (CIO logical channels)
o Onboard microprocessor to unload I/O processing from the SPU
o Remote capability of up to 500 meters with a custom length cable
o No EMI or RFI emissions
o Immunity from EMI and RFI
o Electromagnetic compatibility
o Reliable data transfer achieved through:
-  Cyclical redundancy checking
-  Redundant coding
-  Noise immunity
o Thin, lightweight, flexible cable
o Cable rate Class A environmental
o Electrical isolation
o Minimal performance degradation even when fully configured with
  8 disk drives

Functional Description
The HP 27111A adapter consists of an improved HP-CIO backplane
interface circuit, a Protocol Controller, a high-speed
parallel/serial/parallel converter and coder/decoder, a
high-performance microprocessor (80186) and fiber-optic links.
   Compared to existing interfaces, the VLSI backplane circuitry
improves CIO performance through increased data buffering and support
for log-channels. The microprocessor handles the circuit-layer and
device-layer protocols.
   Onboard firmware and proprietary protocol perform command pipelining
to enhance channel usage and card performance. Cyclical redundancy and
parity checks ensure data integrity and high reliability across the
link.

Functional Specifications
Data Rate:  5 Mbyte per second maximum burst rate. This may be compared
to HP-IB, which is rated at 1 Mbyte per second. Actual performance,
however, is extremely application dependent and will vary accordingly.
Refer to the HP 27111A Performance Brief for more detail.
   Overhead:  Less than 1 millisecond per disk transaction. This
includes HP 27111A overhead only. Additional overhead accrues from
software, channel, and disk controller. In a multiprogramming/multiuser
application, most overhead is masked by pipelining within the
fiber-optic disk controller.
   Devices per Adapter:  The 27111A can connect up to 8 disks by daisy
chaining them with a disk-to-disk bus. Length restrictions do apply
when chaining more than 2 disks. Since each disk/disk controller has a
fiber-optic port, 8 SPUs using 8 HP 27111As can connect to the 8 disks
in the cabinet. Although the hardware allows an 8 SPU by 8 disk
configuration, additional software is required to allow multiprocessor
disk sharing. Consult HP for software availability.
   Cable:  The 30-meter fiber-optic cable (standard duplex cable of
100/140 mm glass fiber) uses four SMA style connectors. The 30-meter
cable may be replaced with a custom length cable of up to 500 meters.
These may be ordered from HP Optical Communications Division (OCD)
using part numbers HFBR-AWQxxx, where xxx specifies the length desired.
Lengths are available in increments of 5 meters from 5 to 50 meters,
increments of 25 meters from 50 to 200 meters, and increments of
50 meters from 200 to 500 meters.
   Supported Configurations:  Configurations are system dependent;
refer to the system specifications for more information.
   MTBF:  Estimated at 70,000 hours
   MTTR:  Estimated at 30 minutes for failure isolation and card
replacement

Ordering Information
   The HP 27111A includes:
      27111-60001 Interface Card for Series 800
      27111-96000 Installation Manual for HP-UX Systems
      1005-0078 30-meter Fiber-optic Cable
      5061-3151 Disk-to-disk Bus Terminator (2)
   HP 27111A Options:
      001 Delete 30-meter cable. HP recommends ordering alternate cable
          in advance.
      002 Add 30.5 cm (12 in) loopback cable, P/N HFBR-3020.

Related Products
   From HP Finance and Remarketing Division (FRD):
      HP 27110BN Return credit for HP 27110B, Series 800 HP-IB from
         HP Disk Memory Division (DMD):
      HP 7936FL 307 Mbyte disk with fiber-optic controller (comes with
         disk-to-disk bus cabling)
      HP 7937FL 571 Mbyte disk with fiber-optic controller (comes with
         disk-to-disk bus cabling)
      HP 97522FL HP-IB to fiber-optic controller field installable
         upgrade kit
      HP 19514A Eight-pack disk cabinet

From HP Networking Communications Specifications Guide,
   5091-3821E, 9205, p 060
Associated files:  la382160.gal, la382160.plt
Fiber-optic Peripheral Interface, Technical Data