An array-processor based architecture for classification problems

The authors describe the design and implementation of an application-specific digital architecture aimed at the solution in real time of the “K nearest neighbors” algorithm for classification problems, whose computational weight is very high. The system described here is an array-processor architecture in which the data base is split among several units that at the same time apply the same operations to different data stored in local memories. The sustained memory bandwidth of a system featuring 8 units is 2560 Mb/s and it provides a speed-up of 500 times over the software algorithm running on a SUN Sparc2 workstation