Design of a clustered multiprocessor for real-time natural language understanding

The authors have designed a parallel architecture called the semantic network array processor (SNAP) for natural language understanding (NLU) and other artificial intelligence applications. It is capable of executing large marker-passing programs and generating results in real-time. The design features 32 processing clusters with four to five functionally dedicated digital signal processors in each cluster. Processors within clusters share a marker-processing memory while communication between clusters is implemented by a buffered message-passing scheme. Throughout the machine, overlapping groups of multiport memories provide a direct yet visible interconnection network. The result is a low cost, flexible, and observable parallel processor capable of performing NLU operations within subsecond response time