Very high-speed computing systems

Very high-speed computers may be classified as follows: 1) Single Instruction Stream-Single Data Stream (SISD) 2) Single Instruction Stream-Multiple Data Stream (SIMD) 3) Multiple Instruction Stream-Single Data Stream (MISD) 4) Multiple Instruction Stream-Multiple Data Stream (MIMD). "Stream," as used here, refers to the sequence of data or instructions as seen by the machine during the execution of a program. The constituents of a system: storage, execution, and instruction handling (branching) are discussed with regard to recent developments and/or systems limitations. The constituents are discussed in terms of concurrent SISD systems (CDC 6600 series and, in particular, IBM Model 90 series), since multiple stream organizations usually do not require any more elaborate components. Representative organizations are selected from each class and the arrangement of the constituents is shown.