A Shared Memory MPP from Cray Research

The CRAY T3D system is the first massively parallel processor from Cray Research. The implementation entailed the design of system software, hardware, languages, and tools. A study of representative applications influenced these designs. The paper focuses on the programming model, the physically distributed, logically shared memory interconnect, and the integration of Digital's DECchip 21064 Alpha AXP microprocessor in this interconnect. Additional topics include latency-hiding and synchronization hardware, libraries, operating system, and tools.