A Data Flow Computer Architecture with Program and Token Memories

Author

Sowa, Masahiro ; Murata, Tadao

Author_Institution

Department of Computer Science, Gunma University

Issue

9

fYear

1982

Firstpage

820

Lastpage

824

Abstract

This paper presents a new data flow computer architecture using two types of memory: program memory and token memory. The program memory (PM) stores a data flow program or graph indicating data dependencies among instructions. The PM need not be changed during execution of one program and is duplicated for each processing or functional unit. The token memory (TM) stores mainly currently needed data values and plays a role similar to accumulators or registers in conventional computers. The size of the TM is expected to be relatively small because the data values occupy space in the TM for a very short time. The small scale TM in our architecture makes it possible to reduce the complexity of the switch mechanism between functional units and memories, and the size of the control circuit.

Keywords

Data flow computer; multiport register (token) memory; multiprocessor architecture; parallel processing; program memory; Computer aided instruction; Computer architecture; Concurrent computing; Data flow computing; Flow graphs; Large-scale systems; Registers; Size control; Switches; Switching circuits; Data flow computer; multiport register (token) memory; multiprocessor architecture; parallel processing; program memory;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Computers, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9340

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TC.1982.1676097

Filename

1676097