noop and ping

[psarkar@almaden.ibm.com]

Can't the functionality of the NOOP command be subsumed by the PING command
with
a bit advising the target to ignore the task tag? Also, aren't we doing
register synchronization
on almost all commands to need a noop command of its own. if the argument
is the
need to do synchronization when there are no outstanding commands, i have a
suspicion
that this could be done without adding a new command.

Alternatively, if there is a need for both, it should be spelled out in the
document.

   Prasenjit Sarkar
   Research Staff Member
   IBM Almaden Research
   San Jose