A multiple associative model to support branches in data parallel applications using the manager-worker paradigm

ASC (associative computing model) and MASC (multiple associative computing model) have long been studied in the Department of Computer Science at Kent State University. While the previous studies provide the background and the basic definition of the model, the description of the interactions between the instruction streams (ISs) is very brief, high level, and incomplete. One change here is that we specify the interaction between ISs and consider that all of the ISs operate on the same clock in order to support predictable worst case computation times, while earlier the ISs were assumed to interact in a MIMD type fashion. This paper provides a detailed explanation as to how these interactions can be supported in the case where only a few ISs are supported.