J–Machine
Encyclopedia
The J–Machine is a parallel computer designed by the MIT Concurrent VLSI Architecture group in conjunction with the Intel Corporation
. The machine uses "jellybean" parts—cheap and multitudinous commodity parts, each with a processor, memory, and a fast communication interface—and a novel network interface to implement fine grained parallel programs.
work at Caltech.
The philosophy of the work was "processors are cheap and memory is expensive," the J in the project's title standing for jellybean which are small cheap candies. In order to make use of large numbers of processors the machine featured a novel network interface using message passing
. This allowed a node to send a message to any other node within 2 microseconds.
Three 1024-node J-machine systems have been built and are kept at MIT, Caltech and Argonne National Laboratory
.
Intel Corporation
Intel Corporation is an American multinational semiconductor chip maker corporation headquartered in Santa Clara, California, United States and the world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue. It is the inventor of the x86 series of microprocessors, the processors found in most...
. The machine uses "jellybean" parts—cheap and multitudinous commodity parts, each with a processor, memory, and a fast communication interface—and a novel network interface to implement fine grained parallel programs.
History
The J-machine was project was started in 1988 based on work in Bill Dally's doctoralDoctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
work at Caltech.
The philosophy of the work was "processors are cheap and memory is expensive," the J in the project's title standing for jellybean which are small cheap candies. In order to make use of large numbers of processors the machine featured a novel network interface using message passing
Message passing
Message passing in computer science is a form of communication used in parallel computing, object-oriented programming, and interprocess communication. In this model, processes or objects can send and receive messages to other processes...
. This allowed a node to send a message to any other node within 2 microseconds.
Three 1024-node J-machine systems have been built and are kept at MIT, Caltech and Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory
Argonne National Laboratory is the first science and engineering research national laboratory in the United States, receiving this designation on July 1, 1946. It is the largest national laboratory by size and scope in the Midwest...
.