Spert-II is a high-performance system for signal processing, multimedi
a, and neural network applications. The system is based on a custom fi
xed-point vector microprocessor packaged for standard workstations. Th
e microprocessor is a single-chip implementation of the Torrent vector
instruction-set architecture. Spert-II includes a versatile set of li
brary routines. It also has a programming environment much like that o
f a workstation. The authors used the system to accelerate neural net
algorithms. When they employed Spert-II to perform training and recall
for the neural networks they use in speech recognition research, it p
roved to be faster than commercial workstations.