The transputer

Abstract

The transputer is a programmable VLSI component with commu- nication links for point-to-point connection to other transputers. Occam (*) is a language that enables a multi-transputer system to be described as a collection of processes that ogerate concur- rently and communicate using message passing via named chan- nels. The INMOS transputer architecture is standardized at the level off the definition of occam (rather than at the level of the def- inition of an instruction set). The implementation of the first commercially available transputers is illustrated by describing the implementation of occam. The paper concludes with outline examples of some applica- tions.