Overview
ISO/IEC 14575:2000 - Information technology - Microprocessor systems - Heterogeneous InterConnect (HIC) - defines a low-cost, low-latency, scalable serial interconnect for parallel system construction. Developed from the OMI/HIC project and aligned with IEEE Std 1355 (1998), the standard specifies physical connectors and cables, electrical characteristics, and logical protocols for point-to-point serial links operating at 10 Mbit/s to 200 Mbit/s and at 1 Gbit/s in copper and optical technologies. Its objective is to enable modular, high-performance parallel systems and communication fabrics while minimizing system integration cost.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Physical media and connectors: Detailed specifications for copper and fiber optic links, fixed and free connector types, cable recommendations, and PCB/connector footprints (normative annexes cover DS-DE, HS-SE, TS-FO/HS-FO connector specs).
- Electrical properties: Driver/line impedance, signal levels, timing margins, input capacitance and skew parameters for different link classes (DS, HS, TS families).
- Logical protocol layers: Layered model including character, exchange, and packet levels; transparent support for higher-level protocols (ATM, message passing, shared memory transactions).
- Encoding and serialization: Character encoding schemes (for example 8B/12B for HS links) and serialization methods to provide low-latency, reliable serial transmission.
- Routing and packet handling: Packet format, wormhole routing, network topologies, flow control strategies, error detection/recovery and reporting mechanisms.
- Implementation guidance and conformance: Defined implementations, conformance criteria, transaction layer examples (ATM mapping), and informative annexes on switch chips, flow-control calculations, and error handling.
Applications and who uses this standard
ISO/IEC 14575:2000 is intended for engineers and architects building scalable parallel and heterogeneous systems, including:
- System architects designing modular parallel servers and HPC clusters
- Hardware and board-level designers specifying connectors, cables, and PCB footprints
- Network and fabric designers implementing low-latency serial links and switch chips
- Silicon integrators and IP developers implementing serialization, flow control and transaction layers
- Embedded system and telecom designers mapping higher-level protocols (e.g., ATM, message passing) onto a serial fabric
Typical uses include building communication fabrics, interconnecting heterogeneous subsystems, designing switch-based routing fabrics, and creating low-cost, low-latency serial link implementations in copper or fiber.
Related standards
- IEEE Std 1355 (1998) - closely associated and referenced by ISO/IEC 14575:2000
- OMI/HIC project materials - origin and development context for the HIC specifications
Keywords: ISO/IEC 14575, Heterogeneous InterConnect, HIC, serial interconnect, point-to-point, scalable interconnect, DS-SE, DS-DE, HS-SE, TS-FO, packet routing, flow control, wormhole routing, low-latency, parallel system construction.