Transputers-past, present and future

The progress, products, and results of ongoing work in transputer development are discussed with particular reference to the ESPRIT Supernode project and other ESPRIT projects. The Supernode project, which lasted from Dec. 1985 to Nov. 1989, was aimed to create a low-cost, high-performance computer system from transputers and incorporated the development of the T800 floating-point transputer and the Supernode RTP (Reconfigurable Transputer Processor). The three-year GPMIMD (General-Purpose, Multiple-Instruction, MUltiple-Data) project aims to develop a standard European MIMD architecture based on H1 transputers and virtual communications. The OMI MAP (Open Microsystems Initiative Microprocessor Architecture Project) forms the core of the European-led Open Microsystems Initiative. It aims to define the architecture of a new microprocessor family designed to exploit the VLSI capabilities anticipated in the latter half of the 1990s.<>