Parallel computing in the commercial marketplace: Research and innovation at work

This is a good time for parallel-computer development and research in both academia and industry. The performance improvements predicted by Moore's La w have proven to be quite accurate over many years. However, the doubling o f processor performance every 18 months cannot keep up with the growing dem and of many applications. The performance of database applications has been doubling every nine to ten months. At last, parallel-computer technology h as come to play an important role in the commercial marketplace. Multiprocessing has been an active research area for almost 40 years and co mmercial parallel computers have been available for more than 35 years. Aft er getting off to a slow start, this area has now taken off. Shared memory multiprocessors have dominated this development. This is an area that has s prung out of tireless research and numerous published breakthrough results. This article analyzes some of the reasons for the sudden acceptance of the relatively old parallel computing field, outlines the key properties of a s uccessful parallel computer of the 1990's, and identifies some important re search areas and key technologies for the future.