Talk:Controller (computing)

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Computing

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History

Once upon a time some of the info used in this article existed at Controller. You can see the history of Controller (some of which subsequently contributed to this article) at Talk:Controller (computing)/Early shared history from Controller--Commander Keane 07:10, 15 January 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Controller versus Adapter

I found an interesting note in Wikipedia about how "controller" differs from "adapter". I think those semantics are worth a small investigation, but it's beyond my knowledge. --Kubanczyk 18:29, 30 June 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The distinction between [adapters and controllers] is mainly one of packaging. Controllers are chip sets in the device itself or on the system’s main printed circuit board (often called the motherboard). An adapter is a card that plugs into a slot on the motherboard. Regardless, the purpose of each is to transfer information back and forth between the I/O bus and an I/O device.^[1]

Tule-hog (talk) 20:13, 1 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]

References

^ Randal Bryant; David O’Hallaron (March 2, 2015). Computer Systems - A Programmer's Perspective (3 ed.). ISBN 013409266X.

Controller vs. Control unit

Coming from an IBM mainframe background, we always used "control unit" to refer to a device controller. I think, reading controller (computing) and control unit side-by-side, that there's some confusion between the two. To a large extent this may reflect confusion of terminology in the real world. If the things can't be distinguished I think they should be merged, but there are multiple distinct "things" being described.

Game controller, a user-interface device.
Terminal Access Controller, not related to any of the other meanings of controller.
Control unit, a "distinguishable) part of the machinery that controls its operation." This article actually describes the "control unit" circuitry of a CPU. Should memory controller, Northbridge (computing), Southbridge (computing) and programmable interrupt controller go here?
The rest of what's described here, which is seem to be generically "device controllers."

Peter Flass (talk) 13:41, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Controller vs. adapter

"A controller is usually also an adapter"?Peter Flass (talk) 13:51, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Over here, if you encounter a sentence that seems (to you) highly doubtful and is not referenced (i.e. there is no reliable source provided) it is perfectly OK to delete it on the spot. See WP:BRD. --Kubanczyk (talk) 14:41, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, I usually do that, but I don't want to exceed the limits of my knowledge either. Done.Peter Flass (talk) 20:31, 7 March 2012 (UTC)[reply]

"See also"

Related to the reorganization of Control unit/Controller I Added a "See also" subsection for specific control(lers/ units). I moved the IBM 2821 from the disambiguation page and added links to the IBM 270x/370x. I'm sure there are more. I also added a definition from IBM to the lead. Looking at this article I see that it could easily be expanded from a bare list of links by adding a sentence or two for each of the "things" that is described by "contoller." Peter Flass (talk) 13:18, 2 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Sectionize

I did a little reorganization of this article into sections, although it's still mostly just a list of devices.Peter Flass (talk) 17:16, 2 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

I did a bit more reorganization - maybe too much - separating controller into chips and boards and adding a little more text. It's still just a catch-all list of things called "controller." Peter Flass (talk) 12:21, 3 November 2012 (UTC)[reply]

Other distinctions

I would like to add to the above comments about distinctions from other terms by noting that digital controller and programmable logic controller are also similar terms that may need to be distinguished. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.40.48.159 (talk) 02:15, 9 December 2019 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Randal Bryant; David O’Hallaron (March 2, 2015). Computer Systems - A Programmer's Perspective (3 ed.). ISBN 013409266X.

[1]