A loosely coupled parallel LISP execution system

There are many ways in which it is possible to start the quest for parallelism in a computing system. The work described in this paper started from a number of clear criteria which have shaped the whole project. These are presented and explained in the first section, and this leads directly to the hardware environment. The software environment forms the subject of the second section. There are a number of basic enabling technologies on which the work is based, and these are explained here. The third part of the paper describes the multiprocessor LISP system constructed, and the fourth section gives some details of the discrete event simulation system, the CPAS project, being built on these principles, concentrating on the currently achieved state rather than the goal. The paper finishes with some assessment and speculation: the extent to which the work has succeeded, and how far the principles can be used in a wider context