This project develops a laboratory for parallel processing equipped with a 32-processor network of transputers, which can be partitioned to serve four users simultaneously. An additional transputer runs the software for partitioning and reconfiguring the system; reconfiguration is under the control of the users. The network of processors (or a subset) can be configured into a variety of architectures, such as a pipe, a tree, a HyperCube, a mesh and a torus. This equipment will first be used in the laboratory portions of three courses: Programming Language Concepts, Design and Analysis of Algorithms, and Computer Architecture. Later, this equipment and a network of workstations running the Mach OS will be used to explore parallelism in the introductory sequence of courses and in Computer Organization and Operating Systems. The parallel machine will also be used by students who are doing senior thesis in parallel computation.
