The broadening of interest in parellel computing and transputers is reflected in this text. Topics covered include: concurrent programming; graphics and image processing; and robotics and control. It is based on the proceedings of the 6th Australian Transputer and Occam User Group.

The symposium held in Reading in March 1992 celebrated the completion of a 5-year Initiative in the Engineering Applications of Transputers. It reviewed achievements in a range of applications and supporting fields and predicted future developments. This book represents a collection of articles presented at this meeting, as well as independent reviews of the Transputer Initiative.

Presents the proceedings of a Transputer and OCCAM User Group Conference, held in Melbourne, in November 1992, discussing recent developments in the field of transputers and parallel applications.

Parallel Processing in Digital Control is a volume to be published in the new Advances in Industrial Control series, edited by Professor M.J. Grimble and Dr. M.A. Johnson of the Industrial Control Unit, University of Strathclyde. The growing complexity of digital control systems in such areas as robotics, flight control and engine control has created a demand for faster and more reliable systems. This book examines how parallel processing can satisfy these requirements. Following a survey of parallel computer architectures, MIMD (Multiple Instruction Multiple Data) machines are identified as suitable systems for digital control problems, which are characterised by a mixture of regular and irregular algorithmic tasks. An example of a typical MIMD architecture, suitable for real-time control, (the Inmos Transputer) is introduced together with its associated parallel programming language (Occam). The key problem in implementing parallel software is associated with mapping parallel tasks onto physical processors. In this book a variety of schemes are described and assessed to help illustrate potential areas of difficulty for the real-time control software engineer. Solutions are proposed and tested on a flight control case study example. Recognising the widespread acceptance of MATLAB and its derivatives for computer aided control system design, this book demonstrates how mapping strategies can be realised in this environment and integrated with a transputer development system for on-line performance evaluation. A case study example demonstrates the power of this approach and important issues are highlighted. Readers will experience the advantages of parallel processing in digital control while being made aware of the key factors to be considered in the development of an effective solution. Practising control engineers and graduate/post-graduate students will find the book of particular interest and benefit.

The broadening of interest in parallel computing and transputers is reflected this book. Topics discussed include: concurrent programming; graphics and image processing; parallel applications; robotics; and control and software tools. The book also features a collection of abstracts of poster presentations.

A guide to the capabilities, software, and hardware of transputer parallel processing systems. Not intended as a substitute for engineering data when detailed design decisions are to be made. Programming examples are in C (rather than occam). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Past, Present, Parallel is a survey of the current state of the parallel processing industry. In the early 1980s, parallel computers were generally regarded as academic curiosities whose natural environment was the research laboratory. Today, parallelism is being used by every major computer manufacturer, although in very different ways, to produce increasingly powerful and cost-effec- tive machines. The first chapter introduces the basic concepts of parallel computing; the subsequent chapters cover different forms of parallelism, including descriptions of vector supercomputers, SIMD computers, shared memory multiprocessors, hypercubes, and transputer-based machines. Each section concentrates on a different manufacturer, detailing its history and company profile, the machines it currently produces, the software environments it supports, the market segment it is targetting, and its future plans. Supplementary chapters describe some of the companies which have been unsuccessful, and discuss a number of the common software systems which have been developed to make parallel computers more usable. The appendices describe the technologies which underpin parallelism. Past, Present, Parallel is an invaluable reference work, providing up-to-date material for commercial computer users and manufacturers, and for researchers and postgraduate students with an interest in parallel computing.