normal attribute in the Ai Ambient Occlusion shader?

[excentriPMNA2]

I have the following questions.

1. what is the role of "Normal" attribute in the Ai Ambient Occlusion shader?

2. what attribute of other shader can the "Normal" Output in the Ai Ambient Occlusion shader be connected with?

[Stephen.Blair]

From the Arnold 5 release notes:

Bump shaders: bump2d and bump3d now output a normal vector that can be linked to new normal parameters in ambocc, lambert, standard_surface and utility shaders.

[excentriPMNA2]

thank you, Mr. Stephen Blair..