A Multidrop bus (MDB) is a computer bus in which components are all connected to the same set of electrical wires. A process of arbitration determines which device gets the right to be the sender of information at any point in time. The other devices must listen to the data that is meant for them.

Multidrop buses have the advantage of simplicity and extensibility, but electronically are limited to around 200-400 MHz (because of reflections on the wire from the PCB onto the die ) and 10-20 cm distance (SCSI-1 has 6 meters). Multidrop standards such as PCI are therefore being replaced by point-to-point systems such as PCI Express.

Multidrop buses are also used by vending machine controllers to communicate with the vending machine's components, such as a currency detector (coin or note reader). Not surprisingly, these MDB buses communicate with the MDB protocol, a 9-bit serial protocol.

External link

• IBM Journal of Research and Development

Computer buses