Talk:Serial computer

Category

Hsould there be a category for Serial Computers? Several of the mentioned system do not state they a serial machines.--Kitchen Knife (talk) 20:30, 30 April 2020 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea to me. I created Category:Serial computers. --Jhertel (talk) 23:26, 30 April 2020 (UTC)

Are massively parallel computers serial?

Serial computers were typically implemented as a cost or complexity-saving measure. In contrast, Massively parallel computers are high-cost machines with performance as their main goal. Serial computers are characterized by running a large data word serially, bit-by-bit, through a single-bit ALU element. The cited Goodyear MPP is not a bit-serial computer even though it used single bit computing elements. It is really a SIMD computer as 16,384 single bit elements are working on different parts of the data simultaneously. Likewise the Connection Machine CM-1 and CM-2 are described in their articles as SIMD, not bit-serial. I suggest removing all the cited examples of massively parallel computers from the serial computer article. They are two unrelated technologies.

-- (unsigned) 021-04-09T15:46:43‎ RastaKins

Yes, I completely agree that bit-serial computers are characterized by running each bit of a number one at a time through a single-bit ALU element, typically as a cost-saving or complexity-saving measure. I also agree that the Goodyear MPP and the Thinking Machines CM-1 and CM-2 are SIMD computers with thousands of single-bit ALUs each working on *different* numbers simultaneously ("in parallel").

Those don't seem contradictory to me.

A SIMD may operate on thousands of *different* numbers simultaneously, but if it (or in general any of the other options in Flynn's taxonomy) processes all the bits of any one N-bit number all at the same time, then I call it a parallel SIMD (or in general a parallel CPU) and so doesn't belong in this article. Today a parallel SIMD typically has a bunch of monolithic N-bit ALUs. Some early parallel SIMDs used a bunch of single-bit ALUs -- N separate single-bit ALUs for each number, wired up to process all the bits of a number at once (in parallel) as a bit-slice design -- I agree that even those SIMD machines don't belong in this article.

If a SIMD (or in general any of the other options in Flynn's taxonomy) processes each number with only one single single-bit ALU (one bit at a time), then I call it a bit-serial SIMD (or in general a bit-serial CPU), which is one kind of bit-serial computer.

Yes, *some* massively parallel computers -- such as the MPP and CM-1 and CM-2 -- are bit-serial.

The MPP and other bit-serial machines belong in this article -- even though it has thousands of single-bit ALUs and so can processes thousands of separate numbers "in parallel". --DavidCary (talk) 22:35, 21 May 2025 (UTC)