burroughs BSP Overview free download

File name BSP_Overview.pdf

r Burroughs BURROUGHS SCIENTIFIC PROCESSOR OVERVIEW, PERSPECTIVE, ARCHITECTURE BS P -----------------------~----------- ----~-------------- BUR ROUG HS SCI E NT IF i C PROCESSOR CONTENTS Section Page 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 ARCHITECTURAL PHILOSOPHY 3 C') 0 PARALLELIS:rvl RATIONALE h " 4 PARALLELISM USEFULNESS 7 5 PARALLELISM IN SUPERCOMPUTERS 11 6 PARALLELISM IMPLEMENTATION IN THE ESP 13 7 SUMMARY 15 iii ~~p ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~BURROUGHSSCIENTIFICPROCESSOR n I J : I BS P ---~-~-------------------------------- BUR ROUGHS SCI ENTI F IC PROCESSOR 1. INTRODUCTION One of the most exciting developments in large-scale scientific computing is the announcement of the Burroughs Scientific Processor (BSP). This system, capable of delivering up to 50 million answers per second, is intended to solve the very largest problems in engineering and scienc e. The BSP is one of the so-called" supercomputers." As such, it is designed to deliver at least one and in most instances several orders of magnitude more processing power than the largest general-purpose computers. Supercomputer design and utilization is a subject of much more than academic interest. A number of application areas, addressable only by supercomputersJ can be linked directly to our progress and survival. These areas include numerical weather prediction.. structural analysis, linear programming, natural resource exploration, and nuclear technology. Associated with each application is at least one critical issue, as indicated below. Application Critical Issues Numerical weather prediction Agricultural production and flood control Structural analysis More energy-efficient, safer