Basic HTML version of Foils prepared 23 August 1998

Foil 62 Why Study Architecture Today?

From CPS615-Introduction-Course,Driving Technology and HPCC Current Status and Futures CPS615 Basic Simulation Track for Computational Science -- Fall Semester 98. by Geoffrey C. Fox, (Some Culler, Koelbel material)


History: diverse and innovative organizational structures, often tied to novel programming models
Rapidly maturing under strong technological constraints
  • The "killer microprocessor" is ubiquitous
  • Laptops and supercomputers are fundamentally similar!
  • Technological trends cause diverse approaches to converge
Technological trends make parallel computing inevitable
  • In the mainstream
Need to understand fundamental principles and design tradeoffs, not just taxonomies
  • According to Culler fundamental are: Naming, Ordering, Replication, Communication performance
  • According to Fox: match computer hardware software and problem



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