RP3 PROCESSOR-MEMORY ELEMENT.

Abstract

RP3 is a parallel processor prototype being developed at the IBM Yorktown Heights Research Facility. The system consists of 512 processor-memory elements (PMEs) and an interconnection network. Each PME contains an IBM 801-like microprocessor, a memory-mapping unit, a 32K-byte cache, a vector floating-point unit, an I/O interface, 4 Mbytes of memory, a performance monitor, and an interface to a high-performance bipolar interconnection network. The components that comprise the PME are described, and some of the issues involved in designing specific components are discussed. Special functions included in the RP3 architecture that facilitate its use for a wide range of applications are described.