VME bus performance in multiprocessor systems

It is pointed out that the large amounts of processing power in each individual subsystem required by future, complex control systems can be achieved by using a higher-performance or multiple processors within a single system. Multiple processors on a single bus may saturate the bus, thereby reducing the expected performance gain. In order to determine an empirical limit for the number of processors a VME bus can support, experiments were conducted to find the point at which VME system output was not increased by the addition of more processors. The system seemed to saturate at about 2×10⁶ bus cycles per second. The VME bus specifications indicate that the bus should be capable of supporting more traffic