PCI Drivers
Wondering what PCI means when it comes to computer terms? PCI stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect. This is a computer bus that is used to connect peripheral devices (components) to a motherboard. A computer bus is essentially a pathway between components in the computer.
Many different types of computer buses exist and offer the advantage of being able to make parts interchangeable. If you want to upgrade your sound or graphics card, all you need to do is unplug the card and plug the new one in. The various components use the bus as a pathway to access the motherboard and processor. The original personal computer bus was the ISA bus. While the ISA bus served its purpose, it didn't have the speed to keep up with ever faster processors. PCI technology was introduced by Intel in 1993 and co-existed with similar buses such as ISA and VESA before becoming the industry standard. In the mid-1990s, Apple Computer adopted PCI for their professional Power Macintosh computers. Over the years, PCI has undergone several version changes. The first version, PCI 1.0, was a component-level specification only. PCI 2.0 soon appeared, introducing standards for motherboard slots and the PCI connector. Recent versions have offered performance improvements such as PCI signaling, a 66MHz 3.3 V standard, and 133MHz PCI-X. PCI became popular when Windows 95 was introduced and Plug and Play devices became available. Intel created both Plug and Play as well as PCI making it a natural choice to integrated Plug and Play into PCI. With a Plug and Play device and a PCI connection, adding new devices to a computer became a simple matter of sliding a device into a PCI slot. Windows would automatically detect the device and configure it! In 2004, the serial PCI Express standard was released. This new interface is based on PCI programming concepts featuring various connectors and serial physical layer protocols. While PCI remains the industry standard, PCI Express is expected to replace it eventually. PCI Express is both backwards compatible with PCI as well as scalable. With the latest advancements in PCI technology, the future of computers and peripherals could very well head toward a component based system much like home audio systems with a main unit and separate components. » Download PCI Drivers |
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