What is the name of the core-to-core transport mechanism used in Intel XEON processors?

A.
Quick Path Interconnect
Intel Xeon 7500 architecture
The Intel Xeon 7500 series processor architectures uses an 8 port crossbar switch which
implements the Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and routing layers. The Intel QPI is point-point
interconnection link developed by Intel [1] to compete with HyperTransport. Prior to using QPI the
Intel architecture was using the Front Side Bus (FSB) [2] which was the bus that carried data
between CPU and the memory controller(northbridge) and I/O controller(southbridge).
The off-chip single memory controller often was the bottleneck which prevented faster CPUs from
improving the overall performance of the system. Now, with crossbar implementation the
microprocessor were able to integrate the northbridge on-chip for faster access As well: (Thanx
MaaShar from Belgium)
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/quickpath-technology/quickpath-technologygeneral.html
Intel® QuickPath Technology uses Intel® QuickPath Interconnect, which provides high-speed,
point-to-point links inside and outside of the processor. In contrast to parallel buses, these links
speed up data transfers by connecting distributed shared memory, the internal cores, the I/O hub,
and other Intel® processors.
QUESTION 17
A customer bought a new HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure with HP Flex-10 interconnect
modules. Which HP BladeSystem installation and startup Service is needed to implement the
network configuration of the HP Flex-10 modules?
Network Infrastructure service

B.
Crossbar switch
Startup BladeSystem c-Class infrastructure service

C.
Hyper Transport
Enhanced Network service

D.
Northbridge
Enclosure Connectivity service

A.
Quick Path Interconnect
Intel Xeon 7500 architecture
The Intel Xeon 7500 series processor architectures uses an 8 port crossbar switch which
implements the Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and routing layers. The Intel QPI is point-point
interconnection link developed by Intel [1] to compete with HyperTransport. Prior to using QPI the
Intel architecture was using the Front Side Bus (FSB) [2] which was the bus that carried data
between CPU and the memory controller(northbridge) and I/O controller(southbridge).
The off-chip single memory controller often was the bottleneck which prevented faster CPUs from
improving the overall performance of the system. Now, with crossbar implementation the
microprocessor were able to integrate the northbridge on-chip for faster access As well: (Thanx
MaaShar from Belgium)
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/quickpath-technology/quickpath-technologygeneral.html
Intel® QuickPath Technology uses Intel® QuickPath Interconnect, which provides high-speed,
point-to-point links inside and outside of the processor. In contrast to parallel buses, these links
speed up data transfers by connecting distributed shared memory, the internal cores, the I/O hub,
and other Intel® processors.
QUESTION 17
A customer bought a new HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure with HP Flex-10 interconnect
modules. Which HP BladeSystem installation and startup Service is needed to implement the
network configuration of the HP Flex-10 modules?
Network Infrastructure service

A.
Quick Path Interconnect
Intel Xeon 7500 architecture
The Intel Xeon 7500 series processor architectures uses an 8 port crossbar switch which
implements the Intel QuickPath Interconnect (QPI) and routing layers. The Intel QPI is point-point
interconnection link developed by Intel [1] to compete with HyperTransport. Prior to using QPI the
Intel architecture was using the Front Side Bus (FSB) [2] which was the bus that carried data
between CPU and the memory controller(northbridge) and I/O controller(southbridge).
The off-chip single memory controller often was the bottleneck which prevented faster CPUs from
improving the overall performance of the system. Now, with crossbar implementation the
microprocessor were able to integrate the northbridge on-chip for faster access As well: (Thanx
MaaShar from Belgium)
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/io/quickpath-technology/quickpath-technologygeneral.html
Intel® QuickPath Technology uses Intel® QuickPath Interconnect, which provides high-speed,
point-to-point links inside and outside of the processor. In contrast to parallel buses, these links
speed up data transfers by connecting distributed shared memory, the internal cores, the I/O hub,
and other Intel® processors.
QUESTION 17
A customer bought a new HP BladeSystem c7000 enclosure with HP Flex-10 interconnect
modules. Which HP BladeSystem installation and startup Service is needed to implement the
network configuration of the HP Flex-10 modules?
Network Infrastructure service

B.
Crossbar switch
Startup BladeSystem c-Class infrastructure service

C.
Hyper Transport
Enhanced Network service

D.
Northbridge
Enclosure Connectivity service

Explanation:

The way I understand it, Crossbar is not a technology name, but a switch that assist in
communication between processors, memory etc, allowing inter core & inter CPU communication.
QPI, FSB & HT are all types of connections, connected to crossbar switches. All the answers are

connected to crossbards, but only Intel has QPI. I would still go with QPI
www.site.uottawa.ca/~mbolic/ceg4131/Report Crossbar switches.pdf
Reference: http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/13127_div/13127_div.pdf (page 13,
Enhanced service)