Title :
Scalable Coherent Interface: links to the future
Author :
Gustavson, David B. ; Kristiansen, Ernst
Author_Institution :
SLAC, Stanford Univ., CA, USA
Abstract :
The uses of the Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) are examined. SCI was developed to support closely coupled multiprocessors and their caches in a distributed shared-memory environment, but its scalability and the efficient generality of its architecture make it work very well over a wide range of applications. It can replace a local area network for connecting workstations on a campus. It can be a powerful I/O channel for a supercomputer. It can be the processor-cache-memory-I/O connection in a highly parallel computer. It can gather data from enormous particle detectors and distribute them among thousands of processors. It can connect a desktop microprocessor to memory chips a few millimeters away, disk drives a few meters away, and servers a few kilometers away.<>
Keywords :
network interfaces; peripheral interfaces; system buses; Scalable Coherent Interface; closely coupled multiprocessors; desktop microprocessor; disk drives; distributed shared-memory; highly parallel computer; local area network; memory chips; particle detectors; powerful I/O channel; processor-cache-memory-I/O connection; scalability; servers; supercomputer; Application software; Computer architecture; Concurrent computing; Joining processes; Local area networks; Microprocessors; Radiation detectors; Scalability; Supercomputers; Workstations;
Conference_Titel :
Compcon Spring '92. Thirty-Seventh IEEE Computer Society International Conference, Digest of Papers.
Conference_Location :
San Francisco, CA, USA
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-2655-0
DOI :
10.1109/CMPCON.1992.186732
