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From: Kai Harrekilde-Petersen on 11 Oct 2006 05:58
I'm trying to find prior art wrt to a patent on single-chip designs
which include more than one "processor" for a particular application.
I appologize for not being able to be more specific here.

I've been trying my luck with google groups here in c.a, but searching
on "dual processor" tends to dig up dual processor /systems/ but not
chips (until recently, when AMD and Intel started designing multi-CPU chips)

For my case a "processor" doesn't have to be a microprocessor per
see*, a dual-pipeline graphics processor would work perfectly (the
system doesn't have to be a MIMD).

Can anyone point to information on early designs that have more than
one processor on a single chip (or books)?

According to Wikipedia[1] the first commercial dual-core CPU was the
IBM POWER4, but I suspect that the idea of having multiple processors
on the same physical die is almost as old as the 4004 processor.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual-core


Kai
--
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp(at)harrekilde(dot)dk>
From: Jan Vorbrüggen on 11 Oct 2006 06:16
Would the chips out of which the CM1, CM2 and ICL DAP were built fit the bill?

Jan
From: Nick Maclaren on 11 Oct 2006 06:31

In article <upscz9nsb.fsf(a)harrekilde.dk>,
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp(a)harrekilde.dk> writes:
|> I'm trying to find prior art wrt to a patent on single-chip designs
|> which include more than one "processor" for a particular application.
|> I appologize for not being able to be more specific here.
|>
|> For my case a "processor" doesn't have to be a microprocessor per
|> see*, a dual-pipeline graphics processor would work perfectly (the
|> system doesn't have to be a MIMD).
|>
|> Can anyone point to information on early designs that have more than
|> one processor on a single chip (or books)?
|>
|> According to Wikipedia[1] the first commercial dual-core CPU was the
|> IBM POWER4, but I suspect that the idea of having multiple processors
|> on the same physical die is almost as old as the 4004 processor.

The idea is ancient, but you may well have to do a paper search!
I am 90% sure that such systems were produced a long time ago but,
as you say, probably not for what Wikipedia is talking about.
I would suggest also looking up vector systems, including the FPS
ones, ICL DAP, BBN Butterfly etc.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
From: Kai Harrekilde-Petersen on 11 Oct 2006 07:53
Jan Vorbr?ggen <jvorbrueggen(a)not-mediasec.de> writes:

> Would the chips out of which the CM1, CM2 and ICL DAP were built fit
> the bill?

If they include at least two processors on a single die, definitely
yes.

I was actually thinking of the CM1 myself, but my brief search on the
Computer Museum only turned up marketing brochures.


Kai
--
Kai Harrekilde-Petersen <khp(at)harrekilde(dot)dk>
From: guy.larri on 11 Oct 2006 13:10

Kai Harrekilde-Petersen wrote:
> I'm trying to find prior art wrt to a patent on single-chip designs
> which include more than one "processor" for a particular application.

The following paper from 1988 describes a single chip designed to do
the signal processing to drive a cochlear ear implant to give hearing
to the profoundly deaf. It has a DSP and a separate "back end
processor" on the same chip:

"A Speech Grade Analog/Digial Signal Processor Chip"
(by R.Clarke, P.Single, P.Black, C.Homes) Proceedings of the 7th
Australian Microelectronics Conference
(p.149-155)
May 16-18, 1988
Published by IREE Australia

I will email you a scanned copy of the paper.

Guy Larri

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