MEGA Node: an implementation of a coarse-grain totally reconfigurable parallel machine

M. Bertrand Blum; Caroline Burrer

doi:10.1117/12.24153

1 September 1990 MEGA Node: an implementation of a coarse-grain totally reconfigurable parallel machine

M. Bertrand Blum, Caroline Burrer

Proceedings Volume 1360, Visual Communications and Image Processing '90: Fifth in a Series; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.24153
Event: Visual Communications and Image Processing '90, 1990, Lausanne, Switzerland

Abstract

The MEGA Node is a loosely coupled, highly parallel computer, based on transputers. One of its main characteristics is its ability to change the topology of the network, using an electronic switch. It covers a range from 128 to 1024 "worker processors", delivering from 550 to 4400 Mflops peak performance. To achieve these performances, a hierarchical structure has been adopted. This highly parallel machine is issued from the Esprit I P1085 "Supernode" project. The software has to support a wide spectrum of users going from those who wish to obtain maximum performance from the machine to those who wish to use it as a general purpose multi-user parallel machine. This paper describes the different ways to use the MEGA Node and the software environments provided to satisfy all kind of users. The Helios environment is a good example to explain how an operating system can control this machine, particularly the networking management and the fundamental problem of mapping. The MEGA Node has already been used for a wide range of applications like signal/image processing (high and low level), image synthesis, scientific and engineering number-crunching, neural network simulation and logic simulation. Only a few of them are discussed in this paper: medical image analysis and vision and ray tracing.

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M. Bertrand Blum and Caroline Burrer "MEGA Node: an implementation of a coarse-grain totally reconfigurable parallel machine", Proc. SPIE 1360, Visual Communications and Image Processing '90: Fifth in a Series, (1 September 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.24153

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KEYWORDS

Switches

Image processing

Control systems

Telecommunications

Switching

Visual communications

Visualization

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