Columbia supercomputer: architecture and interconnection network

A discussion is presented of the architecture and interconnection network of a special-purpose parallel supercomputer. The computer consists of a 256-node array processor, a host computer, and a controller. The host computer, DEC VAX 11/780, works as the front end of the system and is connected to the array processor by the controller. The 256 nodes of the array processor are connected in a two-dimensional mesh topology and work in a lock-step (SIMD) mode.<>