imported>Kvng: Adding short description: "Bulk computation architecture"

2024-07-16T13:26:31Z

Adding short description: "Bulk computation architecture"

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{{Short description|Bulk computation architecture}}
A '''content-addressable parallel processor''' ('''CAPP''') also known as ''associative processor''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/computing/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/associative-processor|title=associative processor|access-date=2021-03-14}}</ref> is a type of [[Parallel computing|parallel processor]] which uses [[Content-addressable memory|content-addressing memory]] (CAM) principles. CAPPs are intended for bulk computation. The syntactic structure of their [[algorithm|computing algorithm]] are simple, whereas the number of concurrent processes may be very large, only limited by the number of locations in the CAM. The best-known CAPP may be [[STARAN]], completed in 1972; several similar systems were later built in other countries.

A CAPP is distinctly different from a [[Von Neumann architecture]] or classical computer that stores data in cells addressed individually by numeric address. The CAPP executes a stream of instructions that address memory based on the content (stored values) of the memory cells. As a parallel processor, it acts on all of the cells containing that content at once. The content of all matching cells can be changed simultaneously.

A typical CAPP might consist of an array of content-addressable memory of fixed word length, a sequential instruction store, and a general purpose computer of the Von Neumann architecture that is used to interface peripherals.

== References ==
* {{Citation | first=Allen|last= Kent |title=Encyclopedia of microcomputers: Volume 4 - Computer-Related Applications: Computational Linguistics to dBase|isbn=0-8247-2703-7|publisher=Dekker|place=New York|year=1990|pages=138–139}}
* {{Citation|first=Caxton C|last=Foster|title=Content Addressable Parallel Processors|isbn=0-442-22433-8|publisher=Van Nostrand Reinhold|year=1976|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/contentaddressab0000fost}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Associative arrays]]
[[Category:Computer memory]]
[[Category:One-of-a-kind computers]]
[[Category:Parallel computing]]

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Content-addressable parallel processor - Revision history

imported>Kvng: Adding short description: "Bulk computation architecture"