Abbreviated EISA, pronounced "ee-sah." A PC bus standard that extends the traditional AT-bus to 32 bits and allows more than one processor to share the bus.
EISA was developed by the so-called Gang of Nine (AST Research, Compaq Computer Corporation, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, NEC, Olivetti, Tandy, Wyse Technology, and Zenith Data Systems) in reply to IBM's introduction of its proprietary MCA (Microchannel Architecture). EISA maintains compatibility with the earlier ISA (Industry Standard Architecture), and it also provides for additional features introduced by IBM in the MCA standard. EISA accepts ISA expansion cards and so, unlike MCA, is compatible with earlier systems. EISA has been eclipsed by Peripheral Control Interconnect-based systems.
See also local bus; PCI local bus; PC Memory Card International Association.