Parallel processing-parallel thinking-the needs of a National Strategy

There are three possible solutions to satisfy the demands for increased computing performance: increased MICRO miniaturisation could, theoretically, enable von Neumann machines to be constructed in smaller and smaller physical volumes that would enable the frequency/wavelength dichotomy to be controlled; a space-time computing machine could be designed that takes account of the fundamental physics of matter-but this does not appear to be on the horizon; or computing machines can adopt parallelism as a means of implementing high performance computing structures. Only the third provides an immediate solution to satisfy the demands for increased computing speed. Within the previous two years from the time of writing (1988) a variety of new computing structures have been marketed on the principals of SIMD or MIMD, while the INMOS Transputer is an example, par excellence, of a component that has been developed to create the means to implement Parallel Computing Structures. The author looks at the need for a National Strategy for parallel processing