High performance coprocessor boards of the 80s and 90s - was Re: SGI ONYX

[Michael Holley]

I worked for the FutureNet division of Data I/O in the late 1980s. One disastrous product was a UNIX based coprocessor system that plugged into an IBM PC/AT. The idea was to run circuit board layout software and simulation on a PC. This would be less expensive than the Daisy, Mentor, or Valid workstations. The coprocessor was an Opus plug in board based on the National 32032 CPU.
http://cpu-ns32k.net/Opus.html

When you ordered the package you got the coprocessor board and a 5 MB hard drive loaded with UNIX and the design software. On a good day the system worked. It was discontinued when PCs with the 368 processor were available. 

Michael Holley