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From: mlelstv@faui44.informatik.uni-erlangen.de (Michael van Elst )
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Whay has commodore droped the transputer
Message-ID: <617@faui44.informatik.uni-erlangen.de>
Date: 29 Aug 88 10:38:12 GMT
References: <989@dsacg3.UUCP>
Reply-To: mlelstv@faui44.UUCP (Michael van Elst (kdebugger))
Organization: CSD., University of Erlangen, W - Germany
Lines: 45

In article <989@dsacg3.UUCP> ntm1477@dsacg3.UUCP (Jared McNeal) writes:
>1.  Why did commodore drop the transputer ?
>2.  What types of O/S can run with the transputer ?
>3.  Where can i find some info on this subject ?
>4.  What is the difference between a parallel processor and the transputer.

Hello, I try to answer briefly:

1. - noone knows, did they really drop ? I saw a transputer board
     working in an A2000 at the CEBIT fair.

2. - I know of a O/S called Helios that runs on several types
     of transputer boxes. It seems to be a well designed O/S
     using a tree file system that includes devices (like UNIX)
     and even process descriptors, memory segements and everything.
     Helios is developed by a british company named Perihelion.
     The transputer card I saw in the Ami worked with Helios.

3.   call INMOS (they built the transputer). They will send you
     anything about the transputer chip.

4.   There are some different kinds of parallel machines.
     The common architecture is a vector processor that
     uses parallel arithmetic units to work on multiple
     operands with a single instruction.
     Then you have field processors that have multiple
     execution units working on different parts of a program
     (or different programs) at the same time.
     To communicate between different processes you can
     use shared memory or message passing.
     Shared memory is somehow complicated with more processors
     as you have to arbitrate the accesses of many clients.
     Message passing (through separate data channels) needs
     methods to propagate information through the multiprocessor
     for you cannot connect all processors with each other.
     This type of architecture is a transputer. 
     It is a small processor with a small amount of very
     fast memory (and more slower memory). It has four high speed
     data channels (called links) used for communication.
     INMOS has built some features into the chip to improve
     speed and generality like a (more or less) reduced instruction
     set (RISC), builtin task switch instructions and bootloading
     through a link.

					Michael van Elst