Title :
NEC Cenju-3: a microprocessor-based parallel computer
Author_Institution :
C&C Res. Labs., NEC Corp., Kawasaki, Japan
Abstract :
Presents the design considerations, machine architecture, and parallel programming environment for the parallel machine Cenju-3, the first massively parallel processor product of NEC. Cenju-3 utilizes fast commodity RISC microprocessors (VR4400) in a distributed shared-memory arrangement and can be configured with up to 256 processing elements, connected through a multistage interconnection network. It results a compact and scalable parallel machine, with operating speeds ranging from 256 MFLOPS to a maximum of 12.8 GFLOPS. A hardware support for the interprocessor communication realizes efficient message/data transmissions among processors. Also, a programming environment (PCASE) has being developed, in order to fully utilize the Cenju-3. PCASE translates a sequential user program into its efficient parallel form with a minimum of user intervention. Preliminary results and future directions are also described
Keywords :
NEC computers; distributed memory systems; multiprocessor interconnection networks; parallel architectures; parallel machines; parallel programming; programming environments; reduced instruction set computing; shared memory systems; 256 MFLOPS to 12.8 GFLOPS; NEC Cenju-3; PCASE; VR4400 RISC microprocessors; data transmissions; design considerations; distributed shared-memory arrangement; interprocessor communication; machine architecture; massively parallel processor; message transmissions; microprocessor-based parallel computer; multistage interconnection network; parallel programming environment; scalable parallel machine; sequential user program; Computer architecture; Concurrent computing; Data communication; Hardware; Microprocessors; Multiprocessor interconnection networks; National electric code; Parallel machines; Parallel programming; Reduced instruction set computing;
Conference_Titel :
Parallel Processing Symposium, 1994. Proceedings., Eighth International
Conference_Location :
Cancun
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-5602-6
DOI :
10.1109/IPPS.1994.288271
