Section 2
Processors for array data
Two array processors are discussed in this section. Conceptually, they are an outgrowth of both the parallel, distributed computer [Holland, 1959], and the matrix-interpreter-based programs for general-purpose computers. NOVA is a very low cost special processor. ILLIAC IV is a very general array processor. Another approach, the ILLIAC III [McCormick, 1963] stores information on photographic media, so that optical processing (inherently parallel) can be used.
NOVA
NOVA is a proposed, non-general-purpose machine based on the belief that efficient, special-function processors can be built to solve particular problems.
It is reasonable to assume that there are problems for which NOVA, with its cyclic memory, would perform no worse than a processor with a random-access memory. Unless the operations performed on the arrays were extremely simple or restricted, a single system might not always work very efficiently. By using a variable-speed cyclic memory to match the operation time in the form of an address transformation or renaming mechanism, the access problems might be avoided.
NOVA represents a particular idea for effective utilization of hardware and is presented to remind us that a memory now considered obsolete may perform nicely for a restricted application.
The ILLIAC IV computer
D. L. Slotnick is responsible for the ILLIAC IV computer. The idea for a computer with a number of parallel data operators or processing elements appeared some time ago in the SOLOMON computer [Gregory and McReynolds, 1963]. The technology of the first and second generation made SOLOMON impractical to build. ILLIAC IV was designed at the University of Illinois under a contract to the Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency.1 The processing elements are constructed from third-generation technology although some medium- and large-scale integrated circuits are used in the design.
The design is about the most ambitious ever undertaken. The direct and indirect effects should be numerous.
1
The university of Illinois monitored the contract to the Burroughs corporation, Paoli, Pa.315