Slot A is the physical and electrical specification for a 242-lead single-edge-connector used by early versions of AMD's Athlon processor. The Slot A connector allows for a higher bus rate than Socket 7 or Super Socket 7. Slot A motherboards use the EV6 bus protocol, a technology originally developed by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for its Alpha 21264 microprocessor. Slot A was superseded by Socket A.