Speculative Forwarding: An Implementation for Reduced Latency in HyperTransport Technology-Based Systems

HyperTransport interconnect technology has become a highly pervasive technology due to its ability to provide a high-performance, point-to-point link with the lowest communication latency for chip-tochip and board-to-board interconnects. This white paper discusses a new method for further reducing latency in systems based on the HyperTransport interconnect technology standard. It describes the advantages and disadvantages of speculative forwarding, an alternative way of designing HyperTransport devices that could significantly reduce latency in long chains without requiring changes to the HyperTransport Link Specification.