The ACP Branch Bus and Real Time Applications of the ACP Multiprocessor System

The ACP Branchbus, a high speed differential bus for data movement in multiprocessing and data acquisition environments, is described. This bus was designed as the central bus in the ACP multiprocessing system. In its full implementation with 16 branches and a bus switch, it will handle data rates of 160 MByte/sec and allow reliable data transmission over inter rack distances. We also summarize applications of the ACP system in experimental data acquisition, triggering and monitoring, with special attention paid to FASTBUS environments.