Laajennusbus

Laajennusbus, which translates to "expansion bus" in English, refers to a type of computer bus designed to allow the addition of new hardware components and peripherals to a computer system. This concept is fundamental to the modularity and upgradeability of modern personal computers.

Historically, various expansion bus standards have emerged, each offering improvements in speed, bandwidth, and functionality. Early examples include the ISA (Industry Standard Architecture) and EISA (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) buses, which were prevalent in the 1980s and early 1990s. These were followed by more advanced interfaces like PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) and AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port).

The primary purpose of an expansion bus is to provide a standardized way for the motherboard to communicate with add-in cards. These cards can include graphics cards, sound cards, network interface cards, and storage controllers. By offering a common interface, manufacturers could design components that were compatible with a wide range of motherboards.

In contemporary computing, PCI Express (PCIe) has become the dominant expansion bus standard. PCIe offers significantly higher speeds and lower latency compared to its predecessors, enabling faster data transfer between the CPU and peripherals, which is crucial for demanding applications like gaming and high-performance computing. The flexibility of PCIe allows for different lane configurations, catering to the specific bandwidth needs of various devices.