Scalable Coherent Interface: links to the future

Author

Gustavson, David B. ; Kristiansen, Ernst

Author_Institution

SLAC, Stanford Univ., CA, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

24-28 Feb. 1992

Firstpage

322

Lastpage

327

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;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

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

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/CMPCON.1992.186732

Filename

186732