[Beowulf] difference between accelerators and co-processors

[Christopher Samuel]

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On 11/03/13 07:03, Mark Hahn wrote:

> IMO, a coprocessor executes the same instruction stream as the 
> "primary" processor.

I'm not so sure about that, the first thing I came across described as
a coprocessor was the "Tube" for the BBC Micro in the mid 1980's.  It
was a Z80 in an external expansion unit that let you run CP/M (which
the hosts 6502 CPU couldn't of course).

The distinction between the two has come up on the hwloc-devel mailing
list where they pondering where new devices should sit in their
current GPU and co-processor categories, and wondering whether to call
them coprocessors or accelerators.

Personally I feel that accelerator is a superset that includes
co-processors.

cheers,
Chris
- -- 
 Christopher Samuel        Senior Systems Administrator
 VLSCI - Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative
 Email: samuel at unimelb.edu.au Phone: +61 (0)3 903 55545
 http://www.vlsci.org.au/      http://twitter.com/vlsci

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