A class of massively parallel computers has been introduced over the last several years in research projects and as commercial products. The computers, designated as Single Instruction Stream Multiple Data Stream (SIMD), offer an increase in performance and a significant improvement in cost/performance. Applications that can exploit this high degree of parallelism can enjoy the economic benefits of this cost/performance breakthrough. The majority of initial applications on these machines is in the hard sciences and engineering fields. However, our Phase I results showed that these machines can be used for fast and efficient implementations of relational and post-relational database technology. We are working with a leading SIMD computer manufacturer, MasPar Computer Corp., to integrate our Phase I results into a complete database solution. Phase II tasks will focus on implementation of a complete and demonstrable prototype. The same cost/performance metrics that will make this product a strong competitor in the commercial database market will lead to the next generation of database technology that will allow for storage of complex data objects. This post-relational database model will allow for object-oriented database implementation in diverse fields such as CAD/CAM systems, genetic mapping, and image analysis applications.
