Neither HyperTransport nor RapidIO are alternatives to Infiniband, which is designed to improve the I/O in servers and between subsystems instead of between chips (see InfiniBand Trade Association). Both HyperTransport and RapidIO proponents say their designs work with Infiniband.
Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) is often cited as having its own interconnect program, called 3GIO or Arapahoe. But by all accounts, this is not up to speed with HyperTransport or RapidIO. "Intel is a latecomer," says Bert McComas, founder and principal analyst at InQuest Market Research, a consultancy and market research firm. With less bandwidth and scaleability than either HyperTransport or RapidIO, by the time 3GIO is ready for market, about 2004, it's unlikely to be any competitive threat to the others, in McComas's view.
Meanwhile, both HyperTransport and RapidIO have a lot in common: They are designed to link chips, network processors, and other components inside multifunction devices based on silicon semiconductors. They are packet-based. They support varying bus widths and bandwidth rates. They are geared to support power and design efficiency. They both deploy so-called source-synchronous technology, where data and clock signals are sent over different connections that use the same voltage. They use similar signaling, based on the Low Voltage Differential Signaling specs approved by standards groups worldwide. And each claims to run at speeds above 60 Gbit/s chip to chip.
Table 1: Interconnect Techniques Compared
| HyperTransport | RapidIO | |
| Main backers | AMD, API Networks | Motorola, IBM |
| Consortium URL | www.hypertransport.org | www.rapidio.org |
| Clock speeds | 200 MHz to 800 MHz | 100 MHz to 1 GHz |
| Bus widths | 2,4,8,16, and 32 bits | 8 or 16 bits |
| Number of pins | 24 for 2-bit to 197 for 32-bit | 40 for 8-bit; 76 for 16-bit |
| Aggregate bandwidth | 128 Gbit/s | 3 to 60 Gbit/s |
| Power required | 1.2 volts | 2.5 volts |
But HyperTransport and RapidIO differ in several key ways, starting with pedigree. HyperTransport's creator and main backer is Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD), and originally it was geared to MIPS processors used in high-end servers and similar gear. More recently, API Networks Inc. has assumed a leading role as well. Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq: BRCM) and PMC-Sierra Inc. (Nasdaq: PMCS) also license the technology.
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