🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <> changht@EECS.NWU.EDU  writes:
>  I would like to have some entry level infos about transputers. Right now
>I am developing a  application programs (C language) on transputer.
>	1. Can Transputer support multi-tasking ? If so, how?
Em.. Well sort of. 
Try looking in some OCCAM books and spot those PAR's
The reason the multitasking is so fast ( i.e. very fast context switching )
is that the parallel 'OS' is microcoded. ie forget the push & pops

>	2. Can I assign process to specific nodes? If so , how?

I suppose you are using a C compiler intended for the transputer. The one
I am using at the moment has full parallel support. There is the concept
of a task ( ie main(){....} function ) and of threads ( co-routines in 
Modula-2 ). Threads are dynamically created within tasks, and always run
on the same processor. Tasks are built up as individual programs which use
channels to communicate with each other. these tasks are linked together into
an 'application' by a configurer, where you have to declare h/w links, physical
processors together with the s/w tasks and channel communications. This is 
where the tasks are allocated processors ( place task_1 processor_1 ).
There usually will be an option to "flood-fill" all transputers in a network
with an identical tasks, but ( I've found ) that it is quite difficult to
re-design an idea to run in such a way.
If your C-compiler doesn't come with such embellishments, whats the point 
of using a transputer in the firstplace ? ( well other than the fact a T800
is 10x faster than a 286++ ).  I would suggest you return to vendor ( or
a bucket might be more appropriate ).

I hope this was usefull!

ttfn Tim
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  Tim  Wortley ( Elec Eng 4 )               UUCP: ..!uunet!mcvax!ukc!wortley
  Dept Electrical & Electronic Eng.        JANET: wortley@uk.ac.hw.ee
  Heriot-Watt University.           ARPA: wortley%uk.ac.hw.ee@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk