FASTBUS is a new laboratory standard data bus intended for use in experimental data acquisition and control. The development of FASTBUS began with a feasibility study in 1976 and is presently at the development prototyping stage. The principal aims of the standard are to provide a factor of ten or more improvement: in speed of data transfers over present systems, as well as to provide an architecture for systems containing multiple processors. Developmental prototypes now in progress include

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... tes, backplanes, cooling devices, power supplies, test and diagnostic modules, and user modules. A sizeable software develop ment effort is also underway. Several experiments have made commitments to use FASTBUS. A review of current work and potential applications it. given.