ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR)
BCPL: The Language and its Compiler
BCPL: The Language and its Compiler
| Hi-index | 0.00 |
FINNET is an approach to computer systems design that utilizes the economy, reliability, and flexibility of small computers functioning in a cohesive fashion to provide large scale computer power at a fraction of the usual cost. This approach is valid over a wide range of equipment configurations and will support system growth ranging from a single computer to a large geographically distributed network of processors, each capable of performing in stand-alone fashion under a variety of operating systems or participating with other processors in the solution of problems too large or complex for a single machine. The basic component of this design approach is NETCOM, a straightforward inter-process communication system that supports local high speed data channels as well as full duplex, multi-line, multi-drop, remote synchronous lines. By providing location independent support for the concept of functional processes, NETCOM allows their distribution among multiple processors, thereby providing not only increased throughput, but also yielding improved reliability and the capability for system expansion or reconfiguration (both hardware and software) without programming modifications.