Simulation of a molecular cellular array on a transputer-based parallel computer

Abstract The transputer is a processor specifically designed as a computing element for setting up parallel architectures, but its most evident limitation is the presence of only four communication links; this drawback restricts the number of realizable multiprocessor topologies. This paper deals with the problem of mapping into a transputer network a simulation algorithm for applications in the field of molecular electronics. The chosen network topology requires a computing element equipped with more than four links, hence it cannot be realized by means of the conventional transputer. Then a new transputer-based computation unit is proposed, which can overcome the problem of low connectivity and be used to set up complex multiprocessor architectures.