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TLA Computer Architectures. #3

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@rerdavies

https://web.archive.org/web/20190523172420/http://firstmicroprocessor.com/documents/ap1-26-97.pdf

A recently declassified description of the novel computer architecture that controls an F-14 fighter that you might find inspiring.

A highly unconventional computer architecture that seems to me to be related to what you're touching on.

The real-time state of the jet fighter gets run through a deeply-pipelined arithmetic processing unit, with three control processors ahead of the processing unit that are responsible for loading and sequencing data (state in RAM, and sensor data) through the arithmetic processing unit, and additional circuitry to route calculated results onto output controllers. The control program runs in a constant loop, performing elaborate scheduling operations on the arithmetic processing unit that transform the state representation of the fighter, and write back the x' state as necessary.

A stunningly interesting computer architecture that might have had significant impact on the design of computers we use today were it not for the fact that its existence and operation were classified throughout the formative years of the personal computer. It seems to me that the kind of architecture described here might have inspired different ways of thinking about modern GPUs, particularly (and perhaps TPUs as well).

How you program such a beast....? Conventional compilers are completely inadequate. But maybe with the kinds of compilers you're talking about.

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