Investigation of Modularly Configured Attached Processors with Intelligent Memories

Abstract : A new architecture for high-performance parallel attached processors is described in this paper. Based on this architecture, an attached processor can be implemented as multiple memory-to-memory pipelines, each being constructed with a class of fundamental components. The unique features are that the attached processor can be configured to match a set of algorithms and its memory controllers can be programmed to fit the access patterns required by the algorithms. As a result, high utilization of the processing logic for given sets of algorithms can be obtained. An example based on matrix multiplication is used for illustration. Finally, design issues related to the implementation of the attached processor based on an MCM technology are discussed. Attached processor, Interconnected pipeline, Memory-to-memory pipeline, Sustained execution rate, Multichip module.