 | This article includes a list ofgeneral references, butit lacks sufficient correspondinginline citations. Please help toimprove this article byintroducing more precise citations.(June 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Founded | March 1985; 40 years ago (1985-03) |
| Founders | Miles Chesney David Alden Gerry Talbot Roy Bottomley Eric Barton James Cownie |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | Miles Chesney,Managing Director David Alden,Finance Director Gerry Talbot Roy Bottomley Eric Barton James Cownie |
| Website | www |
Meiko Scientific Ltd. was a Britishsupercomputer company based inBristol, founded by members of the design team working on theInmostransputermicroprocessor.
In 1985, when Inmos management suggested the release of the transputer be delayed, Miles Chesney, David Alden, Eric Barton, Roy Bottomley, James Cownie, and Gerry Talbot resigned and formed Meiko (Japanese for "well-engineered") to start work onmassively parallel machines based on the processor. Nine weeks later in July 1985, they demonstrated a transputer system based on experimental16-bit transputers at theSIGGRAPH in San Francisco.
In 1986, a system based on32-bit T414 transputers was launched as theMeiko Computing Surface. By 1990, Meiko had sold more than 300 systems and grown to 125 employees. In 1993, Meiko launched the second-generationMeiko CS-2 system, but the company ran into financial difficulties in the mid-1990s. The technical team and technology was transferred to a joint venture company namedQuadrics Supercomputers World Ltd. (QSW), formed byAlenia Spazio ofItaly in mid-1996. At Quadrics, the CS-2 interconnect technology was developed intoQsNet.
As of 2021[update], a vestigial Meiko website still exists.[1]
The Meiko Computing Surface (sometimes retrospectively referred to as the CS-1) was amassively parallelsupercomputer. The system was based on theInmostransputermicroprocessor, later also usingSPARC andIntel i860 processors.[2][3]
The Computing Surface architecture comprised multiple boards containing transputers connected together by their communications links via Meiko-designed link switch chips. A variety of different boards were produced with different transputer variants,random-access memory (RAM) capacities and peripherals.
The initial software environments provided for the Computing Surface wasOccam Programming System (OPS), Meiko's version of Inmos's D700 Transputer Development System. This was soon superseded by amulti-user version,MultiOPS. Later, Meiko introducedMeiko Multiple Virtual Computing Surfaces (M²VCS), a multi-user resource management system let the processors of a Computing Surface be partitioned into severaldomains of different sizes. These domains were allocated by M²VCS to individual users, thus allowing several simultaneous users access to their own virtual Computing Surfaces. M²VCS was used in conjunction with either OPS orMeikOS, aUnix-like single-processoroperating system.
In 1988, Meiko launched the In-Sun Computing Surface, which repackaged the Computing Surface intoVMEbus boards (designated the MK200 series) suitable for installation in largerSun-3 orSun-4 systems. The Sun acted asfront-end host system for managing the transputers, running development tools and providing mass storage. A version of M²VCS running as aSunOSdaemon namedSun Virtual Computing Surfaces (SVCS) provided access between the transputer network and the Sun host.
As the performance of the transputer became less competitive toward the end of the 1980s (the follow-on T9000 transputer being beset with delays), Meiko added the ability to supplement the transputers with Intel i860 processors. Each i860 board (MK086 or MK096) contained two i860s with up to 32 MB of RAM each, and two T800s providing inter-processor communication. Sometimes known as the Concerto or simply the i860 Computing Surface, these systems had limited success.
Meiko also produced a SPARC processor board, the MK083, which allowed the integration of theSunOS operating system into the Computing Surface architecture, similarly to the In-Sun Computing Surface. These were usually used as front-end host processors for transputer or i860 Computing Surfaces. SVCS, or an improved version, called simplyVCS was used to manage the transputer resources. Computing Surface configurations with multiple MK083 boards were also possible.
A major drawback of the Computing Surface architecture was poorI/Obandwidth for general data shuffling. Although aggregate bandwidth for special case data shuffling could be very high, the general case has very poor performance relative to the compute bandwidth. This made the Meiko Computing Surface uneconomic for many applications.
| Developer | Meiko Scientific |
|---|---|
| OS family | Unix-like |
| Working state | Discontinued |
| Source model | Closed-source |
| Initial release | 1987; 38 years ago (1987) |
| Final release | 3.06 / 1991; 34 years ago (1991) |
| Marketing target | Research |
| Available in | English |
| Update method | Compile fromsource code |
| Platforms | Transputer |
| Kernel type | Microkernel |
| Default user interface | Command line interface |
| Preceded by | MINIX |
| Official website | www |
MeikOS (also written asMeikos orMEiKOS) is aUnix-like transputeroperating system developed for the Computing Surface during the late 1980s.
MeikOS was derived from an early version ofMinix, extensively modified for the Computing Surface architecture. UnlikeHeliOS, another Unix-like transputer operating system, MeikOS is essentially a single-processor operating system with a distributedfile system. MeikOS was intended for use with theMeiko Multiple Virtual Computing Surfaces (M²VCS) resource management software, which partitions the processors of a Computing Surface intodomains, manages user access to these domains, and provides inter-domain communication.
MeikOS hasdiskless andfileserver variants, the former running on the seat processor of an M²VCS domain, providing acommand line user interface for a given user; the latter running on processors with attachedSCSI hard disks, providing a remote file service (namedSurface File System (SFS)) to instances of diskless MeikOS. The two can communicate via M²VCS.
MeikOS was made obsolete by the introduction of the In-Sun Computing Surface and the Meiko MK083SPARC processor board, which allowSunOS andSun Virtual Computing Surfaces (SVCS), later developed asVCS to take over the roles of MeikOS and M²VCS respectively. The last MeikOS release was MeikOS 3.06, in early 1991.
This was based on thetransputer link protocol. Meiko developed its own switch silicon on and European Silicon Systems, ES2gate array. Thisapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) provided static connectivity and limited dynamic connectivity and was designed by Moray McLaren.
The CS-2[4][5][6] was launched in 1993 and was Meiko's second-generation system architecture, superseding the earlier Computing Surface.
The CS-2 was an all-new modular architecture based aroundSuperSPARC orhyperSPARC processors[7] and, optionally,Fujitsu μVPvector processors.[8] These implemented an instruction set similar to theFujitsu VP2000 vector supercomputer and had a nominal performance of 200megaflops ondouble precision arithmetic and double that onsingle precision. The SuperSPARC processors ran at 40 MHz initially, later increased to 50 MHz. Subsequently, hyperSPARC processors were introduced at 66, 90 or 100 MHz. The CS-2 was intended to scale up to 1024 processors. The largest CS-2 system built was a 224-processor system[9] installed atLawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The CS-2 ran a customized version of Sun's operating systemSolaris, initially Solaris 2.1, later 2.3 and 2.5.1.
The processors in a CS-2 were connected by a Meiko-designed multi-stage packet-switchedfat tree network implemented in custom silicon.[10][11][12]
This project, codenamed Elan-Elite, was started in 1990, as a speculative project to compete with the T9000Transputer fromInmos, which Meiko intended to use as an interconnect technology. TheT9000 began to suffer massive delays, such that the internal project became the only viable interconnect choice for the CS-2.
This interconnect comprised two devices, code-namedElan (adapter) andElite (switch). Each processing element included an Elan chip, a communications co-processor based on theSPARC architecture, accessed via aSun MBuscache coherent interface and providing two 50 MB/s bi-directional links. The Elite chip was an 8-way linkcrossbar switch, used to form thepacket-switched network. The switch had limited adaption based on load and priority.[13]
Both ASICs were fabbed in complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) gate arrays byGEC Plessey in theirRoborough,Plymouth semi-conductor fab in 1993.
After the Meiko technology was acquired byQuadrics, the Elan/Elite interconnect technology was developed intoQsNet.
Meiko had hired Fred (Mark) Homewood and Moray McLaren both of whom had been instrumental in the design of theT800. Together, they designed and developed an improved, higher performanceFPU core, owned by Meiko. This was initially targeted at theIntel80387 instruction set. An ongoing legal battle between Intel,AMD and others over the 80387 made it clear this project was a commercial non-starter. A chance discussion between McLaren andAndy Bechtolsheim while visitingSun Microsystems to discuss licensingSolaris caused Meiko to re-target the design forSPARC. Meiko was able to turn around the coreFPU design in a short time andLSI Logic fabbed a device for theSPARCstation 1.
A major difference over the T800 FPU was that it fully implemented theIEEE 754 standard for computer arithmetic. This including all rounding modes, denormalised numbers and square root in hardware without taking anyhardware exceptions to complete computation.
ASPARCstation 2 design was also developed together with a combined part targeting the SPARCstation 2 ASIC pinout. LSI fabbed and manufactured the separate FPU L64814, as part of their SparKIT chipset.[14]
The Meiko design was eventually fully licensed to Sun which went on to use it in theMicroSPARC family of ASICs for several generations[15] in return for a one-off payment and full Solaris source license.
| Kernels |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating systems |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frameworks,kits | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
