Processor organized in clusters of processing elements and cluster interconnections by a clustering process

Abstract

An array processor includes processing elements () arranged in clusters (e.g.,) to form a rectangular array (). Inter-cluster communication paths () are mutually exclusive. Due to the mutual exclusivity of the data paths, communications between the processing elements of each cluster may be combined in a single inter-cluster path, thus eliminating half the wiring required for the path. The length of the longest communication path is not directly determined by the overall dimension of the array, as in conventional torus arrays. Rather, the longest communications path is limited by the inter-cluster spacing. Transpose elements of an N×N torts may be combined in clusters and communicate with one another through intra-cluster communications paths. Transpose operation latency is eliminated in this approach. Each PE may have a single transmit port () and a single receive port (). Thus, the individual PEs are decoupled from the array topology.