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Flynn’s Taxonomy

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Synonyms

SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) machines

Definition

Flynn’s taxonomy is a categorization of forms of parallel computer architectures. From the viewpoint of the assembly language programmer, parallel computers are classified by the concurrency in processing sequences (or streams), data, and instructions. This results in four classes SISD (single instruction, single data), SIMD (single instruction, multiple data), MISD (multiple instruction, single data), and MIMD (multiple instruction, multiple data).

Discussion

Introduction

Developed in 1966 [1] and slightly expanded in 1972 [2], this is a methodology to classify general forms of parallel operation available within a processor. It was proposed as an approach to clarify the types of parallelism either supported in the hardware by a processing system or available in an application. The classification is based on the view of either the machine or the application by the machine language programmer. It implicitly assumes...

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Bibliography

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Flynn, M. (2011). Flynn’s Taxonomy. In: Padua, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Parallel Computing. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-09766-4_2

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