nbm@castle.ed.ac.uk (N MacDonald) (07/30/90)
I'm looking for information on the recent demise of Multiflow. The latest information I have is that discussions were proceeding with Intel on a possible deal on Multiflow's compiler technology, although Multiflow itself was unlikely to survive. Did this deal ever come to fruition? If not, what has become of former Multiflow personnel? Is work on the compiler technology going on elsewhere or has it died with Multiflow? What were the reasons for the company's failure in the first place? I'd also be interested in *any* information about Cydrome, which I believe is another failed VLIW machine manufacturer. Neil. ______________________________________________________________________________ Neil MacDonald <nbm@uk.ac.ed.castle> Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre
clc@edison.cho.ge.com (Clark Coleman) (08/02/90)
You asked for info about Cydrome, in addition to Multiflow. I believe the Cydrome Cydra-5 computer was considered a dataflow machine more than a VLIW machine. They had an agreement to have Prime Computers resell it as a compute server for workstations, but Prime backed out at the last minute, hastening the demise of Cydrome. Prime claimed that some of its benchmarks did not pan out as expected, which is surprising, given that the Cydra-5 gave sustained performance at a higher percentage of peak performance than just about any other competing machine (56% of peak), as shown in the LINPACK benchmarks. Cf. pp. 21-22 of ACM SIGARCH "Computer Architecture News", Vol. 18, No. 1, March 1990. -- ----------------------------------------------- Clark Coleman (804)978-5367 clc5q@virginia.edu Standard Disclaimer Applies -----------------------------------------------
fnddr@acad3.fai.alaska.edu (Rice Don D) (08/08/90)
In article <5410@castle.ed.ac.uk>, nbm@castle.ed.ac.uk (N MacDonald) writes... >I'm looking for information on the recent demise of Multiflow. > >The latest information I have is that discussions were proceeding with >Intel on a possible deal on Multiflow's compiler technology, although >Multiflow itself was unlikely to survive. Did this deal ever come to >fruition? If not, what has become of former Multiflow personnel? > >Is work on the compiler technology going on elsewhere or has it died >with Multiflow? See Digital Review, July 9 1990, front page story "DEC secures rights to use Multiflow's compilers." It says that DEC pulled out of a $10M deal just before Multiflow died, and suggests that was a major cause of death. But now DEC has non-exclusive rights to the VLIW technology. HP and Intel have also bought into the technology, and have hired former Multiflow employees. They also mention that Bell Atlantic is taking over support services for the installed base. I'm glad the technology is carrying on. The Multiflow people claimed the machines were based on 8 MHz CMOS, but they were turning in performance in the 50-VUP range on our applications... Don Rice Internet: fnddr@acad3.fai.alaska.edu Geophysical Institute E-mail: fnddr@alaska.bitnet University of Alaska Phone: (907) 474-7569 Fairbanks, AK 99775 Loran: 64.86N 212.16E
grob@chorus.fr (Lori Grob) (08/21/90)
Many of the Multiflow compiler people have gone to HP-Apollo in Boston. I believe that Josh Fisher has gone to HP Labs. L.S. Grob Chorus systemes +33 1 30 57 00 22 (Phone) 6, avenue Gustave Eiffel +33 1 30 57 00 66 (Fax) F-78180 Montigny-le-Bretonneux email: grob@chorus.fr France grob@nyu.edu