PIX, the latest NeWS

Author

Leler, W.

fYear

1989

fDate

Feb. 27 1989-March 3 1989

Firstpage

239

Lastpage

242

Abstract

The NeWS window server from Sun Microsystems is the addition of quasiparallelism to PostScript. NeWS uses this parallelism to deal with the inherent concurrency of human/computer interactions. NeWS provides multiple, lightweight processes to deal with this parallelism; as a result, user interfaces are demonstrably easier to implement using NeWS than using other window servers. The pseudoconcurrency of NeWS naturally suggests that it might be an excellent candidate for execution on a true parallel processor. The goal of the PIX (parallel interactive executive) project was to produce a version of NeWS that runs on parallel processors, and to fix some problems with NeWS. In addition, execution NeWS on a parallel processor does more than just provide execution speed advantages, it begins to redefine the role of server-based user interfaces in modern computer systems. PIX extensions of NeWS include: preemptive process scheduling; Linda operators are used for safe interprocess communication; and a decentralized event mechanism. PIX also allows for separately compiled primitives.<>

Keywords

multiprogramming; parallel processing; user interfaces; Linda operators; NeWS window server; PIX; PostScript; concurrency; decentralized event mechanism; human/computer interactions; interprocess communication; parallel interactive executive; parallel processor; preemptive process scheduling; quasiparallelism; separately compiled primitives; server-based user interfaces; user interfaces; Multiprogramming; Parallel processing; User interfaces;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

COMPCON Spring '89. Thirty-Fourth IEEE Computer Society International Conference: Intellectual Leverage, Digest of Papers.

Conference_Location

San Francisco, CA, USA

Print_ISBN

0-8186-1909-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CMPCON.1989.301934

Filename

301934