We propose a machine architecture for a high-performance processing node for a message-passing, MIMD concurrent computer. The principal mechanisms for attaining this goal are the direct execution and buffering of messages and a memory-based architecture that permits very fast context switches. Our architecture also includes a novel memory organization that permits both indexed and associative accesses and that incorporates an instruction buffer and message queue. Simulation results suggest that this architecture reduces message reception overhead by more than an order of magnitude.

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CST is a programming language based on Smalltalkthat supports concurrency using locks, asynchronous messages, and distributed objects. Distributed objects have their state distributed across many nodes of a machine, but are referred to by a single name. Distributed objects are capable of processing many messages simultaneously and can be used to efficiently connect together large collections of objects. They can be used to construct a number of useful abstractions for concurrency. This paper describes the CST language, gives examples of its use, and discusses an initial implementation.

To program massively concurrent MIMD machines, programmers need tools for managing complexity. One important tool that has been used in the sequential programming world is hierarchies of abstractions. Unfortunately, most concurrent object-oriented languages construct hierarchical abstractions from objects that serialize -serializing the abstractions. In machines with tens of thousands of processors, unnecessary serialization of this sort can cause significant loss of concurrency.