Title :
Controlling and programming the SPHINX multi-SIMD pyramid machine
Author :
Méhat, J. ; Mérigot, A.
Author_Institution :
Paris VIII Univ., St. Denis, France
Abstract :
A control scheme with a very limited overhead for SPHINX, a cellular pyramidal machine primarily designed for image-processing applications, is presented. It is organized as a set of stacked layers of decreasing size interconnected according to a dual network: a mesh-based interneighbor interconnection network within a layer and a binary tree between adjacent layers. The SPHINX processing element relies on bit serial operations and communications. It is formed of an arithmetic and logic unit with enhanced data transfer capabilities, a 256-bits local memory, and a set of special-purpose registers. A low-overhead interlayer method to synchronize communication of independently controlled single-instruction multiple-data (SIMD) processor meshes is presented. It is shown how it can be used to provide multitasking within a mesh to allow opposite data flow to cross safely. Related programming concepts for multi-SIMD machines-control transmission-are presented
Keywords :
multiprocessor interconnection networks; parallel architectures; parallel machines; parallel programming; ALU; SPHINX; binary tree; bit serial operations; cellular pyramidal machine; control scheme; control transmission; dual network; enhanced data transfer capabilities; image-processing applications; limited overhead; logic unit; mesh-based interneighbor interconnection network; multitasking; single-instruction multiple-data; stacked layers; Binary trees; Communication system control; Image processing; LAN interconnection; Multiprocessor interconnection networks; Multitasking; Parallel languages; Process control; Process design; Registers;
Conference_Titel :
Frontiers of Massively Parallel Computation, 1988. Proceedings., 2nd Symposium on the Frontiers of
Conference_Location :
Fairfax, VA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-5892-4
DOI :
10.1109/FMPC.1988.47394
