MININET: A microprocessor-controlled "Mininetwork"
R.C. Chen, P.G. Jessel, R.A. Patterson · Proceedings of the IEEE · 1976
This paper describes a microprocessor-controlled "mini network" designed for digital-device communication. The network provides a data pipeline which may be switched between any two devices in a many-device system. Data in the pipeline pass through a first-in-first-out buffer memory that my be filled and emptied asynchronously, so that the receiver and sender need not operate at the same data rate. The switching function is performed by a microprocessor in response to device requests for data transfer.