The case for application specific computing

Application specific computing is the only way to solve many computationally intensive problems. In contrast to general purpose computing, application specific computing can achieve high throughput, small size, and (for CMOS realizations) low power. The improvement in the area time product is often in excess of two orders of magnitude. This paper reviews past endeavors in special purpose processing, current research in application specific array processing, and offers the prediction that in the near future `system compilation´ will greatly facilitate the development of application specific computers