Evolution and Convergence
SIMD Popular when cost savings of centralized sequencer high
- 60s when CPU was a cabinet
- Replaced by vectors in mid-70s
- More flexible w.r.t. memory layout and easier to manage
- Revived in mid-80s when 32-bit datapath slices just fit on chip
Simple, regular applications have good locality
Programming model converges with SPMD (single program multiple data)
- need fast global synchronization
- Structured global address space, implemented with either SAS or MP