Front-end processor
Small computer to which a large mainframe computer delegates input/output or telecommunications functions
A front-end processor (FEP), or a communications processor, is a small-sized computer which interfaces to the host computer, a number of networks, such as SNA, or a number of peripheral devices, such as terminals, disk units, printers and tape units. Data is transferred between the host computer and the front-end processor using a high-speed parallel interface. The front-end processor communicates with peripheral devices using slower serial interfaces, usually also through communication networks. The purpose is to off-load from the host computer the work of managing the peripheral devices, transmitting and receiving messages, packet assembly and disassembly, error detection, and error correction. Two examples are the IBM 3705 Communications Controller and the Burroughs Data Communications Processor.
Sometimes FEP is synonymous with a communications controller, although the latter is not necessarily as flexible. Early communications controllers such as the IBM 270x series were hard wired, but later units were programmable devices.
Front-end processor is also used in a more general sense in asymmetric multi-processor systems. The FEP is a processing device (usually a computer) which is closer to the input source than is the main processor. It performs some task such as telemetry control, data collection, reduction of raw sensor data, analysis of keyboard input, etc.
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This entry incorporates text from “Front-end processor” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.