MMPS-A reconfigurable multi-microprocessor simulator system

The computing industry is currently undergoing a quiet revolution. Along with the recent advances in LSI design and production, a new trend in computation is forming. Many corporations are realizing that an important part of the future of computers lies in distributed data processing. The emphasis here is not on distributed data, for this field has been extensively (though certainly not completely) researched by computer scientists, but on distributed processing. While there exist a great many design and debugging tools for uni-processor systems, such as simulator systems, as well as off-the-shelf in-circuit emulators for almost any minior microprocessor on the market, there exist few real design or debugging tools for multi-processing systems. While it is relatively easy to simulate any uni-process machine on almost any other, there is no easy method of either simulating a mUltiprocessor or of simulating any algorithm which is designed to run on such a system. And while it is possible to hand code a multi-processor simulator, this is certainly not a desirable method. Any design modifications must be incorporated into the current simulator by reprogramming (possibly large) sections of the code. A network simulator cannot limit itself to the simulation of a specific network, with fixed characteristics and configurations. Rather, what is needed is a software system development tool which is a general purpose network simulation package to provide a simulation environment for the design, checkout and maintainance of mUltiprocessor computer networks. What we have set out to do is to construct tools for the network designer. A multi-microprocessor design language and dynamically reconfigurable multi-microprocessor simulator (MMPS), (which can be used in conjunction with a reconfigurable hardware network emulator, the BUCS system,l provides an aid to an efficient design methodology, and is described here. DDP system description and simulation is an important step in the development of computer network systems. It not only tests the correctness of the overall design scheme, but also that of the individual elements, with relation to speed, instruction set, unit MTBF, etc. It should also test for possible run-time hazardous conditions which might arise, such as integrity problems, before the actual construc-