CESAR-A programmable high performance systolic array processor

The authors describe the architecture and implementation of the CESAR computer system. The computing unit in CESAR has from one to four programmable systolic arrays working strictly in parallel, representing a SIMD (single-instruction multiple-data) structure. Each array consists of 128 custom-designed processing elements individually programmable for performing bit-serial operations on 32-bit data. Including control logic and memory units, a complete CESAR system with four systolic arrays is implemented on 13 circuit boards. Care has been taken to build in testability at all levels. Originally developed for processing of images from synthetic aperture radar, CESAR is also available for other applications demanding extensive vector processing.<
>