STARAN parallel processor system hardware
Kenneth E. Batcher · 1974
The parallel processing capability of STARAN resides in n array modules (n≤32). Each array module contains 256 small processing elements (PE's). They communicate with a multi-dimensional access (MDA) memory through a "flip" network, which can permute a set of operands to allow inter-PE communication. This gives the programmer a great deal of freedom in using the processing capability of the PE's. At one stage of a program, he may apply this capability to many bits of one or a few items of data; at another stage, he may apply it to one or a few bits of many items of data.