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A computer with low-level parallelism QA-2: its applications to 3-D graphics and Prolog/Lisp machines

Authors:

H. HagiwaraAuthors Info & Claims

ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News, Volume 14, Issue 2

Pages 280 - 289

https://doi.org/10.1145/17356.17389

Published: 01 May 1986 Publication History

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Abstract

We proposed a computer with low-level parallelism as one of the basic computer architectures and built a large scale experimental system called QA-2. By low-level parallelism, we mean that a long-word instruction controls simultaneously many ALUs, busses, registers and memories in a mode of fine-grained parallelism. The QA-2 employs a 256-bit instruction by which four different ALU operations, four memory accesses to different/continuous locations and one powerful sequence control are all specified and performed in parallel. If many simultaneously executable operations are detected and embedded in one instruction at compile time, this type of computer can provide a high-degree of performance for a wide variety of applications. This paper describes the architectural benefits and limitations of low-level parallelism in performing 3-D color image generation and interpreting Prolog/Lisp programs. The hardware organization with four ALUs, which are actually implemented in the QA-2, is verified to be adequate. In fact, nearly three out of four ALUs can work in parallel. Any architecture with more than four ALUs can not achieve a significant degree of performance enhancement. This paper also shows the degree of performance improvement achieved by the techniques such as ALU chaining and highly-structured sequence control mechanisms. As compared with the IBM 370 architecture, the QA-2 can generate 3-D color images in 1/5 of dynamic instruction steps. The compiler version of Prolog machine on the QA-2 is as fast (45K LIPS) as the ICOT's PSI. From all results, we expect that the QA-2 is a high-performance computer which will be utilized in the future personal computing environment.

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A computer with low-level parallelism QA-2: its applications to 3-D graphics and Prolog/Lisp machines

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Published In

cover image ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News

ACM SIGARCH Computer Architecture News Volume 14, Issue 2

Special Issue: Proceedings of the 13th annual international symposium on Computer architecture (ISCA '86)

May 1986

429 pages

ISSN:0163-5964

DOI:10.1145/17356

Editor:
Hideo Aiso

Issue’s Table of Contents

ISCA '86: Proceedings of the 13th annual international symposium on Computer architecture
June 1986
454 pages
ISBN:081860719X
Chairman:
Hideo Aiso

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 May 1986

Published in SIGARCH Volume 14, Issue 2

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Fukuda AMurakami KTomita S(2018)Toward Advanced Parallel ProcessingIEEE Micro10.1109/40.8572111:4(16-19, 50-61)Online publication date: 29-Dec-2018
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