Research and Advances
Architecture and Hardware

The CRAY-1 computer system

Posted

This paper describes the CRAY-1, discusses the evolution of its architecture, and gives an account of some of the problems that were overcome during its manufacture. The CRAY-1 is the only computer to have been built to date that satisfies ERDA's Class VI requirement (a computer capable of processing from 20 to 60 million floating point operations per second) [1]. The CRAY-1's Fortran compiler (CFT) is designed to give the scientific user immediate access to the benefits of the CRAY-1's vector processing architecture. An optimizing compiler, CFT, “vectorizes” innermost DO loops. Compatible with the ANSI 1966 Fortran Standard and with many commonly supported Fortran extensions, CFT does not require any source program modifications or the use of additional nonstandard Fortran statements to achieve vectorization. Thus the user's investment of hundreds of man months of effort to develop Fortran programs for other contemporary computers is protected.

View this article in the ACM Digital Library.

Join the Discussion (0)

Become a Member or Sign In to Post a Comment

The Latest from CACM

Shape the Future of Computing

ACM encourages its members to take a direct hand in shaping the future of the association. There are more ways than ever to get involved.

Get Involved

Communications of the ACM (CACM) is now a fully Open Access publication.

By opening CACM to the world, we hope to increase engagement among the broader computer science community and encourage non-members to discover the rich resources ACM has to offer.

Learn More