Architecture of an array processor using a nonlinear skewing scheme

Abstract

The problem of constructing an array processor with N processing elements, N memories, and an interconnection network which provides conflict-free access and alignment of various N-vectors including rows, columns, diagonals, contiguous blocks, and distributed blocks of N*N arrays, where N is any even power of two, is discussed. The use of linear skewing schemes offers no solution to this problem. The solution developed makes use of a nonlinear skewing scheme. The solution leads to a simple, efficient array processor architecture. In particular, the memory organization requires O(log N) gates to generate memory addresses for any of the N-vectors simultaneously in O(1) time. The interconnection structure is able to accomplish data alignment for any of the N-vectors with a single pass through a network of O(N log N) gates. As the system uses the minimum number of memories, it allows both processing elements and memories to achieve the highest utilization possible.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>