Transputer Applications

The Immos transputer, its programming language occam, and the many associated support and development systems offer new possibilities in designing and programming highly concurrent processors. This book provides an introduction to the transputer family and its software support systems, demonstrates how the transputer can be used in a wide variety of applications, and takes the reader to the point where he could start to design his own systems. It thus gives a practical insight into making the critical step from computer science to practical reality. Details of both hardware and software are given to enable practical systems to be implemented. The introduction outlines the requirements for parallel processing and illustrates where the transputer lies in the spectrum of parallel architectures. The major part of the book consists of case studies in a range of applications suitable for arrays of transputers with detail of both hardware and software requirements. These applications include image processing, large-scale scientific processing and numerical libraries. The book concludes with a review of some of the major research projects using transputers and indicates future trends.
It is aimed at students in computer science and engineering and professionals in the computer and electronics industries who are considering developing and implementing parallel processing systems.