Configurable Data Manipulation in an Attached Multiprocessor

The ION Data Engine is a multþocessor tasking system that provides data manipulation services for collections of workstations or other conventional computers. It is a back-end system, connecting to a workstation via the Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSÐ disk interface. ION appears to the workstation as a large, high speed disk device, but with user extensible characteristics. By mapping an application's functionality into simple disk read and write accesses, ION achieves a high degree of application portability, while providing enhanced performance via dedicated processors closely positioned to I/O devices and a streamlined tasking system for device control. The programming model for ION supports the notion of separation of control function from data transmission. Typically, a small list of data manþ-lation directives is transmitted from the workstation to the ION node, where data filtering or other forms of processing occur. Only results, as opposed to all data, need be returned to the workstation. In the extreme case, the ION system can acquire all input data and generate all output data, without any processing occurring in the workstation. An example application uses a simple set of directives to capture and digitize high quality stereo audio, mix it to monaural, rate adjust the digitized samples to ISDN rates, convert