The design of a multi-micro-computer system

Continuing advances in semiconductor technology now makes practical the construction of multi-micro-processor systems with tens to hundreds of processors. We are currently involved in the design and construction of a multi-micro-processor system to experimentally investigate the problems of building and programming systems with a large number of processors. The LSI-11 microcomputer is the basic “computer module” that provides processing power and primary memory. The interconnection scheme between the computer modules allows the processors to cooperate in a true multiprocessor fashion: they can share and efficiently access all of primary memory. A number of working groups are now investigating the central problems facing the design and successful application of reliable multi-micro-processor systems and these problems will also be discussed.