RUBIC: a multiprocessor for rule-based systems

It is shown how sequential production systems can be transformed into equivalent parallel forms by performing an analysis of rule interdependence. In the parallel production system model, rules fire simultaneously and the search space is reduced from the original form. A multiprocessor called RUBIC (rule-based inference computer) was designed to implement the parallel processing model. RUBIC has a message-passing architecture. The partitioning and mapping of production systems into the multiprocessor is achieved by optimizing a performance index such that inherent parallelism is maximized and interprocessor communication is minimized