Critical problems in very-large-scale computer systems. Semiannual technical report, 1 April-30 September 1989
Ayushi Agarwal, William J. Dally, Srinivas Devadas, Thomas F. Knight, Frank Thomson Leighton · OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 1989
The research vehicle for this contract is the largest possible computer that could be conceived for the mid to late 1990's. The technical challenges of such a machine serve as our guiding stimulus for the research carried out and reported here. We imagine this machine to occupy a 14-story building, to cost upward of $1 billion, and to be so colossal that the nation could only afford one or two of them. The available chip technology and machine size are consistent with 10 to the 15th power FLOPS and 10 to the 15th power bytes of memory. The machine will be used to solve large-scale scientific problems having both military and civilian applications. This investigation addresses the hardware technology, software techniques, algorithms, communications, processing elements, and applications. The study will determine the plausibility (not feasibility) of the machine. Progress in these various areas are highlighted in the forthcoming sections. (rrh)