Multithreaded computer systems

Abstract

Multithreaded computer systems are parallel machines in which threads are sequentially executed code segments. Each processor has hardware support for quickly switching contexts among runnable threads. Other features include some form of data matching, split-phase memory accesses, and a dataflow-like regime for thread instantiation. They combine features of conventional von Neumann systems with those of fine-grained dataflow architectures.In this minisymposium three speakers address architectural principles and issues, examine approaches to providing implicitly parallel software for these machines, and give an industrial perspective that includes the potential wader influence of multithreaded computers.1063-9535/92 $3.00 0 1992 IEEE