MU6V: a parallel vector processing system

MU6V is a parallel vector processing system in which a linear set of processors, each capable of both vector and scalar operations, is interconnected by a common communication highway. Memory is fully distributed among the processors and interprocessor communication occurs by means of global broadcasts controlled in hardware by a data driven synchronization mechanism. A prototype model based on 68000 microprocessors, in which vector orders are emulated as "extracodes", has been constructed. A host machine provides a software support environment and a run-time system in the prototype provides diagnostic information. Programming language features have been designed to exploit this configuration and an example algorithm is presented.