dataflow chip (1.2 μ CMOS technology) has 4 MB of memory and 40 MB/s communication capability (total) through four bi-directional ports. The 64 processors are arranged in a torus and the complete unit has two 1280x1024 24-bit frame buffers. Interestingly, Sanyo also produces a line of PC products including a 20-MHz, 386-based notebook. (Note that there are very few Japanese electronics consumer product companies that are not really computer companies, e.g., Sony had a large display of tape storage devices, etc.)

PARALLEL COMPUTING

For the most part Japanese companies are behind those in the United States in parallel computing hardware and Japan is far behind in software and tools development for parallel machines. There are very few general purpose parallel machines and those that exist are all pre-commercial. Until university researchers can easily access parallel machines, there is little likelihood of them producing significant quantities of software tools research, save for some simulation. There are a reasonable number of special purpose parallel machines, and I have mentioned some of these above. Several of these machines implement uniquely Japanese ideas, but there is only a small chance that these systems will get to the United States in the near future. (The Japanese companies are conservative about jumping into the marketing of parallel processing hardware; perhaps they see these as taking sales away from existing products.) I think that it would be extremely useful to give U.S. scientists an opportunity to try these machines in a substantial way. For Fujitsu, good access could be provided at the Australian National University in Canberra. Others would have to be arranged through the vendors or the Japanese universities where they are being installed.