Title :
Multicomputers: message-passing concurrent computers
Author :
Athas, William C. ; Seitz, Charles L.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci., California Inst. of Technol., Pasadena, CA, USA
Abstract :
A status report is provided on the architecture and programming of a family of concurrent computers that are organized as ensembles of small programmable computers called nodes, connected by a message-passing network, each with its own private memory. The architecture of the multicomputer is described and contrasted with that of the shared-memory multiprocessor, and the concept of grain size (which depends on the size of the individual memories) is explained. Medium-grain and fine-grain multicomputers, with nodes containing megabytes and tens of kilobytes of memory, respectively, are examined, and their programming is discussed.<>
Keywords :
architecture, computer; multiprocessing programs; multiprocessing systems; multiprocessor interconnection networks; computer architecture; grain size; message-passing concurrent computers; message-passing network; shared-memory multiprocessor; Cache memory; Circuits; Computer architecture; Computer science; Concurrent computing; Costs; Hypercubes; Physics computing; Programming profession; Switches;
