Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cwjcc!hal!nic.MR.NET!tank!uxc!uxc.cso.uiuc.edu!m.cs.uiuc.edu!grabas
From: grabas@m.cs.uiuc.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.transputer
Subject: Re: What makes Transputer interesting
Message-ID: <37700002@m.cs.uiuc.edu>
Date: 13 Nov 88 01:12:00 GMT
References: <20000001@ugun21>
Lines: 21
Nf-ID: #R:ugun21:20000001:m.cs.uiuc.edu:37700002:000:1023
Nf-From: m.cs.uiuc.edu!grabas    Nov 12 19:12:00 1988


      What make the Transputer interesting is: 

        -- its integration (communication, multitasking, Floating-point on 
           the same chip) ==> speed 
        -- its RISC-like architecture (few simple short and fast instructions) 
        -- its built-in memory controller: The Transputer can drive DRAM with 
           no additionnal circuitry. 
        -- The speed and simplicity of its multitasking and communication due 
           to the fact that they are integrated at the processor-instruction 
           level.  

       To sum-up, the Transputer is great because it is ONE Transputer 
instead of being MANY circuits + software. 

       One of the main things I reproach to the Transputer is that it does not 
support virtual memory (vital to build any reasonnable stand-alone machine). 
       If anybody from INMOS reads this note, please, could he tell me when it 
will be done (or why it shouldn't be done...)? 

                   Dominique Grabas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign