Brent Hilpert wrote:
Scott Quinn wrote:
(1) What is the history of the crossbar in computer architectures as a
mainbus replacement?
I recall reading an article in Annals of the History of Computing about a
late 60's era mainframe in which memory and multiple processors were
connected via some sort of crossbar/matrix switching arrangement.
I think it was a Burroughs machine but my memory could be wrong on that even.
CMU did a parallel machine like that using PDP-11/40s. They used 16
machines and 16 memory banks. It was called C.mmp. I think for me,
reconstructing that would be the ultimate in classic geek.
Also, while I haven't watched all that carefully, I'm sure there are others
who have also used crossbars to route inter-processor communication.
I even messed around with that approach a little.
BLS