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Inmos Transputer Dead

Inmos Transputer
KindMachine
Introduced1984
Discontinued1994
StatusDead
ManufacturerInmos
ClassParallel processor
PlatformRISC + serial links
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗

A CPU designed to be wired into parallel arrays, programmed in occam — Hoare's CSP made hardware. Britain's boldest silicon bet; the market chose workstations.

Created by Inmos

Inmos's transputer (1984) was the first microprocessor designed for parallelism — a 32-bit RISC core with four serial links for mesh topologies, programmed in occam (CSP as language). A Meiko Computing Surface could hold thousands.

It was architecturally brilliant and commercially wrong — workstations won on price/performance. STMicroelectronics discontinued it in 1994; the design's ideas echo in modern interconnects.

Sources

  1. bitsavers.org/pdf/inmos/
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transputer