Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!boulder!ccncsu!bizet.CS.ColoState.Edu!rro
From: rro@bizet.CS.ColoState.Edu (Rod Oldehoeft)
Newsgroups: comp.arch
Subject: Re: Prisma is gone
Message-ID: <3279@ccncsu.ColoState.EDU>
Date: 28 Nov 89 19:45:31 GMT
References: <24317@cup.portal.com> <480@dmk3b1.UUCP> <1989Nov28.104128.8045@hellgate.utah.edu>
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Reply-To: rro@bizet.CS.ColoState.Edu.UUCP (Rod Oldehoeft)
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In article <1989Nov28.104128.8045@hellgate.utah.edu> michell@cs.utah.edu (Nick Michell) writes:
>I'm interested in GaAs, although I don't much about Prisma.
>If the failure was technology related, was that due to the use
>of parts from Gigabit - high speed, but also high power and only
>MSI density (not to mention the fact the Gigabit is in financial
>trouble)?


Pete Wilson from Prisma spoke here yesterday in the dept. colloquium
series.  He used many of the overheads from the Hot Chips Symposium,
but was also able to relate recent items.  Apparently the purchase of
Gigabit by Cray Computer made people nervous about continuing
availability of parts.  He also detailed many hard problems they had
to solve, which slowed progress.  At the end they had a design for a
non-GaAs multiprocessor, which didn't impress the VC people.  At this
time Prisma has a nice, cheap water-cooling method they'd like to
license, as well as an excellent SPARC C compiler.

I recommend Pete to anyone interested in a fine discussion of the
Prisma architecture.


Rod Oldehoeft                    Email: rro@CS.ColoState.EDU
Computer Science Department      Voice: 303/491-5792
Colorado State University        Fax:   303/491-2293
Fort Collins, CO  80523


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