ISPW
Encyclopedia
The IRCAM Signal Processing Workstation (ISPW) was a hardware DSP
platform developed by IRCAM
and the Ariel
Corporation in the late 1980s. In French
, the ISPW is referred to as the SIM (Station d'informatique musicale).
It consisted of up to three customized DSP boards that could be plugged into the expansion bus
on a NeXT
Computer (a "cube"). The ISPW could then run a customized real-time audio processing server
on the hardware boards controlled by a client
application on the NeXT.
Each ISPW card had two Intel I860 microprocessors (running at 80 MFLOPS
). An additional card with eight channels of audio
I/O was also available for multi-channel sound recording and playback. A three-board ISPW provided what was at the time unsurpassed signal processing and audio synthesis power on a single workstation. A single ISPW card cost approximately $12,000US (not including the computer), which made it prohibitively expensive outside of research institutes and universities.
And the I860 board :
The main server software developed by IRCAM for the ISPW was called FTS ("Faster Than Sound"). The main NeXT client application was a graphical program called Max
, developed by Miller Puckette
. A commercial version of Max (without the FTS server) was licensed by IRCAM to Opcode Systems (and, later, Cycling '74
).
Max/FTS eventually migrated to a software-only application for SGI
and DEC
Alpha computers. It is the direct predecessor to jMax.
See also Pd
.
Digital signal processor
A digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
platform developed by IRCAM
IRCAM
IRCAM is a European institute for science about music and sound and avant garde electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organizationally linked with, the Centre Pompidou in Paris...
and the Ariel
Ariel
Ariel may refer to:-Film:*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award*Ariel , a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki-People:*Ariel , any of several real or fictional people of that name...
Corporation in the late 1980s. In French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, the ISPW is referred to as the SIM (Station d'informatique musicale).
It consisted of up to three customized DSP boards that could be plugged into the expansion bus
Computer bus
In computer architecture, a bus is a subsystem that transfers data between components inside a computer, or between computers.Early computer buses were literally parallel electrical wires with multiple connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same...
on a NeXT
NeXT
Next, Inc. was an American computer company headquartered in Redwood City, California, that developed and manufactured a series of computer workstations intended for the higher education and business markets...
Computer (a "cube"). The ISPW could then run a customized real-time audio processing server
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
on the hardware boards controlled by a client
Client (computing)
A client is an application or system that accesses a service made available by a server. The server is often on another computer system, in which case the client accesses the service by way of a network....
application on the NeXT.
Each ISPW card had two Intel I860 microprocessors (running at 80 MFLOPS
FLOPS
In computing, FLOPS is a measure of a computer's performance, especially in fields of scientific calculations that make heavy use of floating-point calculations, similar to the older, simpler, instructions per second...
). An additional card with eight channels of audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
I/O was also available for multi-channel sound recording and playback. A three-board ISPW provided what was at the time unsurpassed signal processing and audio synthesis power on a single workstation. A single ISPW card cost approximately $12,000US (not including the computer), which made it prohibitively expensive outside of research institutes and universities.
And the I860 board :
The main server software developed by IRCAM for the ISPW was called FTS ("Faster Than Sound"). The main NeXT client application was a graphical program called Max
Max (software)
Max is a visual programming language for music and multimedia developed and maintained by San Francisco-based software company Cycling '74. During its 20-year history, it has been widely used by composers, performers, software designers, researchers, and artists for creating innovative recordings,...
, developed by Miller Puckette
Miller Puckette
Miller Smith Puckette is the associate director of the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts as well as a professor of music at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been since 1994....
. A commercial version of Max (without the FTS server) was licensed by IRCAM to Opcode Systems (and, later, Cycling '74
Cycling '74
Cycling '74 is a San Francisco-based software development company and music label, specializing in Interactive Media. The company is best known for their work with the digital signal processing software environment Max...
).
Max/FTS eventually migrated to a software-only application for SGI
Silicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
and DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
Alpha computers. It is the direct predecessor to jMax.
See also Pd
Pure Data
Pure Data is a visual programming language developed by Miller Puckette in the 1990s for creating interactive computer music and multimedia works. While Puckette is the main author of the program, Pd is an open source project with a large developer base working on new extensions to it. It is...
.
External links
- A brief history of MAX, from IRCAM