Hitachi S-820 Supercomputer System
Shun Kawabe · 1993
SummaryThe HITACHI S-820 made a debut as one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world in 1987. It consists of a Scalar Processor and a Vector Processor. As the Scalar Processor has the same architecture as a general-purpose mainframe, the whole complex fits well in conventional operating environments. Central to the high computation speed is the Vector Processor with its multiple-pipeline structure and large vector register memory. The use of the semiconductor Extended Storage dramatically reduces I/O time, contributing to faster job turn around and balanced system performance. A high degree of parallelism is incorporated inside the Vector Processor as well as between the Vector and the Scalar Processors. The hardware technology employed in the system, which is the key to high performance and supreme reliability, includes the field-proven state-of-the-art high-speed logic LSIs originally developed for Hitachi’s large-scale mainframes, a 256 Kbits BiCMOS with an access time of 20 nsec, and a vector register LSI which combines logic and RAMs on a monolithic chip. A variety of software products has also been developed to fully exploit the hardware capabilities.