“A General Purpose, Expandable Processor for Real-Time Computer Graphics” by Eastman and Wooten
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Title:
- A General Purpose, Expandable Processor for Real-Time Computer Graphics
Session/Category Title: Display Technology
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Abstract:
A class of critical computer requirements for real-time scan T.V. computer graphics is examined in relation to commercially available CPU architectures. Finding general purpose processors not suited, a new processor is proposed which is designed around the concept of “instruction set partitioning.” In this design, special hardware-implemented algorithms may be included in the machine instruction set, and these processors allowed to operate asynchronously from each other. The design is projected to generate a complete new frame of a color T.V. picture every 0.1-0.8 seconds depending on image complexity. Due to its inherent generality, the CPU may be similarly expanded to encompass a wide variety of other specialized, or real-time tasks with minimal additional hardware. The 32-bit parallel processor has a design cycle time of 100 ns and is in the price class of a minicomputer.
