Parallel Computer Architecture

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

conveniently packaged building block for parallel architectures. The latter brings

parallel architecture into the single-chip regime (Gwennap 1994b). Both possibili-

ties are in evidence commercially, with the system-on-a-chip becoming first estab-

lished in embedded systems, portables, and low-end personal computer products.

The use of multiple processors on a chip is becoming established in digital signal

processing (Feigel 1994).

The divergence between capacity and speed is much more pronounced in

memory technology. From 1980 to 1995, the capacity of a DRAM chip increased a

thousand-fold, quadrupling every three years ...