Project Title:

A Floating-Point Computer Module for Array Processing on the FLEX/32 MultiComputer

06.03-1234
A Floating-Point Computer Module for Array Processing on the FLEX/32 MultiComputer
Flexible Computer Corp.
1801 Royal Lane, Bldg #8
Dallas
TX
75229
Matelan
Nicholas
NAS1-18241
Amount:   
LaRC
NAS1-17939

Abstract:

   The FLEX/32 MultiComputing Environment is a general-purpose, digitalmultiple-processor system that allows virtually any number of high performance, hetergeneous,
32-bit computer modules to compute in parallel together on one or more tasks.

The Phase I study has shown the feasibility of using the FLEX/32 MultiComputer in
floating-point array processing.  This can be done through development of a new Floating-Point
Computer Module (FPCM) specifically adapted to floating-point arithmetic, vector
and array processing.  Phase II will result in production of a new FPCM module and
library software that will be fully integrable into any FLEX/32 configuration, be
it all FPCM's or mixed as needed with already existing module types.  FPCM software
would execute under UNIX System V used by other FLEX/32 modules.

A single FLEX/32 cabinet, equipped with the new modules, could give 32-bit computing
power in the 80 to 120 megaflops range.  Since there is no inherent architectural
limitation to the number of cabinets that can be directly coupled together, there
is no theoretical limit to the size and processing power that such a machine can
attain.  A five-cabinet FLEX/32 could offer performance in the 400-500 megaflops
range, for example, depending on use of suitable algorithms.

The availability of an FPCM would turn the commercially available FLEX/32 MultiComputer
into a lower cost array-processing supercomputer replacement.