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Aucbvax.6244 fa.works utcsrgv!utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!works Sat Feb 20 22:45:13 1982 Workstations and multiprocessing >From Lars.Ericson@CMU-10A Sat Feb 20 22:15:51 1982 1) (Random) Has anybody used the new MC68000 machine that came out (somebody in California, begins with a C?) -- the one with a real pretty white case, seperate monitor, fancy looking keyboard. Maybe begins with an F like Formula Systems or something.

2) (Multiprocessing) I think the proper model here is that one has several powerful (68000) processors in your personal computer, some of which are attached to special devices (like two sharing the disk, two sharing the screen, one doing mouse and keyboard as well as general purpose work).

All processors would be general purpose "process pools", and programs would be built up from processes communicating with an IPC mechanism. In a sense, it would be simply an artifact that some of the processors happen to be connected to the graphics display. One would use a general- purpose distributed processing language to organize use of the processes available on each processor. That is, each processor would be running its own instantiation of the operating system, and would think of the other processors as if they were on a tiny local net. Everything would communicate with message passing, although this could be optimized with a multiple-port memory shared among processors, as opposed to a tiny ETHERNET-style arrangement.

This would make it possible to realistically think of writing programs which devoted themselves to a single aspect of the graphics display which operate in parallel with other non-display programs.

I think a reasonable amount of compute power in such a configuration for really friendly use would be a pool of 10 68000's (the updated version of 68000, of course).

By the way, I have implemented a distributed processing language which allows one to build programs composed of processes communicating via message-passing. It works with VAXes running Berkeley UNIX which are connected via 3 MB Ethernet.

-- Lars

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