What Is Backside Bus (BSB)?

The Backside Bus (BSB) is an essential part of a computer. It's basically like the "brain" of your computer, connecting it to its memory and ensuring everything is running smoothly. The backside bus connects the CPU to other essential parts of your computer, like the cache memory. When you're using your computer, it must have plenty of space in its memory so that it doesn't run out—and that's what the backside bus does! It allows data to be stored in a central place so that it can be retrieved quickly, making everything go fast and smoothly for everyone who uses it. However, BSB is still used in some systems to improve communication between components and reduce bottlenecks. BSB supports 16- or 32-bit communication and works at 1 or 4 megahertz. The channel speed is typically 50 or 75 megahertz, but there is a 200 megahertz version. BSB is standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) as IEEE Standard 1589-2002. The CPU has a fun job. It has to do all the important stuff, like math and thinking, but it also needs to talk to all the other parts of your computer. That's why it has two internal buses that carry data to and fro from the CPU: the backside bus and the frontside bus (FSB). The backside bus transmits data between the CPU and the secondary cache, while the front-side bus communicates between the CPU and the memory. The CPU needs to access the L2 store when needed quickly. The CPU will be less efficient if L2 cache memory cannot be located soon and transmitted. You may have heard the term "backside bus" and wondered what it meant. Well, the backside bus is a system used in older PCs to access cache externally. It was faster than accessing RAM through the front side bus (FSB) but much slower than accessing the L2 or L3 cache directly on the CPU. Today, most PCs use an integrated L2 and L3 cache on their CPUs. It means that they don't need a BSB anymore!