Path: utzoo!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!lll-winken!uwm.edu!bionet!agate!stanford.edu!unix!filbert!hht From: hht@filbert.sarnoff.com (Herbert H. Taylor x2733) Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer Subject: Re: Who Wants Massively Parallel Processors Anyway? Message-ID: <1070@filbert.sarnoff.com> Date: 5 Mar 91 16:14:00 GMT References: <3672@ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> <66231@brunix.UUCP> <9102271454.AA10080@NADC.NADC.NAVY.MIL> Organization: David Sarnoff Research Center, Princeton, NJ Lines: 53 ** This brings up a simple question: Who wants massively parallel ** machines anyhow? Computer Scientists and Engineers experiment ** with and develop systems - what are they used for? I'm all ** for research for its own sake, but there are actually people ** out there who want to apply it. I suppose the questions are more ** along these lines: What are the foreseen uses of large parallel ** machines? Is this in line with current research? What should ** they be used for (besides weather prediction, Mandelbrot sets, etc.)? We have developed a massively parallel, Video Supercomputer a.k.a. the Princeton Engine. This is a SIMD machine with 2048 16bit custom DSP chips. It was originally intended for HDTV research but has since found a diverse number of applications including image pyramid processing, multispectral analysis, SAR, histogram equalization, Data compression algorithms, neural nets, terrain rendering, medical imaging, volume visualization, ultrasound processing, teleoperation and, oh, even mandlebrot sets.... All these applications run in continuous real-time. For example, we simulate in continuous real-time HDTV system proposals. HDTV simulations on conventional computing platforms, for example, high-end mainframes take 10 to 20 hours to compute ONE second of video - while on the Princeton Engine this is continuous real-time - we watch "television" on the computer. For a conventional mainframe to assemble even a "few seconds" of a single simulation of important design ideas (perhaps to show your boss) it might take weeks to compose, simulate and evaluate. On a system such as the Princeton Engine - the process is real-time. In fact, the kind of interaction one can have with the creative design process when the response of the computer is instant is extraordinary - and is difficult to describe without sounding unbelievable. It is even different then the interaction one can have with other very fast computers - even a supercomputer. The Princeton Engine was originally developed when DSRC was RCA Labs. One system has been here at DSRC in Princeton and one in Indianapolis Ind. for almost three years. This spring we are placing another system at NIST in Maryland under DARPA sponsorship. The NIST system will be used primarily by DARPA HDTV program participants. Many of the important conceptual ideas embodied in the recent DARPA BAA for High Definition systems will require massive parallel systems to fully explore the underlying ideas. DARPA's interest lies in, "high resolution systems for applications in command and control, battle management, training and simulation, intelligence analysis, weapons systems..." If one examines the processing requirements to accomplish several of the ares embodied in the BAA it is evident that a significant measure of parallism will be required. The technical areas of the BAA include displays, processors, etc. These are fundamentally the areas where the Princeton Engine has found great applicability. H Taylor.