UK 951.1 notes that certain applications in the field of Automatic Test & Measuring would benefit from the definition of a High-Speed-Protocol which would provide for higher data transmission speeds, as the current International Standard IEC 60625-1 or IEEE 488.
Such definition should be an extension of the International Standard IEC 60625 or American Standard IEEE 488, and should also be compatible to those. That means that a device, which complies with the present standard, shall also comply with the extended protocol without additional testing.
With view to the so-called HS.488 proposal of IEEE, and its usage of the CFE-command, the UK 951.1 therefore wishes to express its concerns. It would appreciate, if this proposal would be published under its own standards number instead, i.e. not IEEE 488.
The DKE has submitted a proposal to the International Electrotechnical Commission that outlines the conditions for a higher speed operation of the IEC 60625 interface (GPIB), than currently explicated. It provides for a higher speed operation that can be achieved by using additional powered resistive loads and limited cable length, and without modifying or extending the current IEC 60625 functions.
The DKE recommends to establish an International Working Group at IEC Subcommittee 65C "Digital Communications" to further investigate and validate the proposed concept by interoperability tests, and to identify clearly marked conditions under which higher speed operation can be achieved, without impeding compatibility with previous versions of the Standard. The DKE-Secretariat will provide further technical information on request (Telephon-Number: +69/63 08-2 89).
DKE-UK 951.1 wishes to stress the importance of harmonization of work, undertaken by IEC and IEEE on this item, as it was the case in the past with elaborating IEC 60625 and IEEE 488 in the Joint Working Group IEC/SC 65C/WG 3.