Performance evaluation of a VLSI associative unifier in a WAM based environment

The unification task is one of the most complex and time-consuming activities in the execution of Prolog programs. The solutions currently implemented in Prolog machines are based on the sequential execution of Robinson’s based algorithms using some architectural supports to data tags testing and manipulation and to the intrinsic recursivity of the algorithm. In this work the application of associative techniques is evaluated inside a WAM environment and a detailed comparison is done with respect to the sequential solution. The structure of an incremental VLSI unifier, able to work properly with an existing Prolog processor, is derived from the analysis of experimental data.