The 4D-MP graphics superworkstation: computing+graphics=40 MIPS+MFLOPS and 100000 lighted polygons per second

Abstract

The 4D-MP graphics superworkstation, which brings 40 MIPS (million instructions per second) of computing performance to a graphics superworkstation is described. It also delivers 40 MFLOPS (million floating-point operations per second) of geometry processing performance, enabling 100000 lighted, four-sided, concave-tested polygons to be processed per second. This level of computing and graphics processing in an office-environment workstation is made possible by using the fastest available RISC (reduced-instruction-set computer) microprocessors in a single shared-memory multiprocessor design driving a tightly coupled, highly parallel graphics system. Aggregate sustained data rates of >1 Gbyte/s are achieved by a hierarchy of buses in a balanced system designed to avoid bottlenecks.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>