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Thursday, August 2, 2012

RX Propeller Supercomputer

RX PROPELLER SUPERCOMPUTER

Big Propeller Retro Supercomputer
The RX Propeller Super computer is made from all Parallax Propeller chips. It exceeds one-C of chips, including twenty Parallax Propeller Proto Boards and several large chip-filled high density solderless breadboards reconfigurable for various experiments.

The purpose of the RX is experimenting, supercomputer distributed parallel algorithm development, and having fun bringing back nostalgia from yesteryear's super computing machines! Of course, the R in RX stands for Retro.
 

History
It's how you look at it. The left side added to the right side of the Big Brain Machine equals a modern 2011/2012 super computer with TFLOPS processing power, according to the Top 500 list of supercomputers. But what happens when the left side is detached from the right side? What new things can arise from this configuration?

Retro Supercomputing
Now take the left side only into consideration. It accurately represents a Retro Supercomputer with approximately 1990s supercomputing power.

Functions
The left side is also a powerful controller to the outside world with its excess of 3,200 controlling input output ports and it has vital functions for retro and nostalgic supercomputing experimentation. It's ideally suited for development of distributed parallel programming techniques for various supercomputers.

Specifications
The best way to review some of these specs is to consult the specifications page, keeping in mind what applies to only the left brain. This, in a nutshell, includes all functions developed for solderless breadboards and the EXO.

EXO & Breadboards
The EXO is the previously detached Exoskeleton, a kind of obverse tower where the components are on the outside. Seen in the photo, the left brain combines the breadboards and the EXO.

Speed
At 160 MIPS per chip, the first 100 chips push theoretical speed to 16,000 MIPS or 16 Billion Instructions Per Second (or approximated as 16 GIPS). The RS is integer based so you'll need to convert standards when comparing to other machines. GFLOPs speed is as fast as a 1990s supercomputer (see link). 

The Propeller Supercomputing Kit
What would be needed for a kit? Let's say you can get the common lights, resistors, capacitors, breadboards, and Propeller chips. What else is required? The Propeller Supercomputer Kit includes the following to get started. 

Propeller Supercomputer Kit
Schematic Diagrams
Enumerator
Parallel Loader
Operations Algorithm
Applications Outline
Instructional PDF

RX Propeller Supercomputer Milestones
  • Enumeration (software based)
  • True Parallelism
  • Instant Loading
  • Thousands of Propeller VIP Processors
  • Cloning
  • Breaking the 100-chip Propeller barrier
  • Stacked High Density Solderless Breadboards
  • Exoskeleton Structure Components on Outside
  • Evolution Chip Independence (EI, CI, AI)
  • Divisional Signalers (DS Mode)
  • Simplex N (Neural Config)
  • ParP Ops (Parallel-Parallel Mode)
  • Cross Platform Hosting
  • Multi Program Language Ops
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FLOPS