The connection machine is a supercomputer that uses parallel computing to implement artificial intelligence, including facial and graphic recognition and solving complex problems. It was designed by Danny Hillis in the 1980s and built by Thinking Machines Corporation. It uses fast parallel processors to delegate tasks, unlike home computers which are sequential. There are various types of computers based on processor speed, data word size, and architecture.
The connecting machine is a supercomputer with thousands of interconnected computers. Its design allows scientists to at least partially emulate the processes in a human brain. Using parallel computing, the connection machine implements artificial intelligence. Some of these areas include facial and graphic recognition, applications for solving complex problems in various fields such as medicine and cryptography, and the encryption and decryption of sensitive documents.
In 1981, Danny Hillis wrote the first description of the connection machine architecture. He was a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) student working at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In the late 1970s, research into human cognition, which included a study of how humans think, made it necessary to look for processing capabilities beyond so-called sequential computers. In 1983, Danny Hillis also helped found Thinking Machines Corporation, where the CM-1, CM-2 and CM-5 connection machines were built in 1985, 1987 and 1993 respectively.
The connection machine makes use of fast parallel processors. When a connecting machine is presented with input, such as an image of a face for recognition, it delegates the recognition task to a hierarchy of thousands of computers. This is analogous to a CEO performing huge and complicated tasks by delegating to a small group of people who then further delegate to a group of people and so on. As a result, a huge task is done in a relatively short time by “parallel-acting” individuals, similar to the parallel processors in a connection machine.
Home computers are sequential computers with limited parallel processing capabilities. For example, the graphics processors in home computers are parallel processors that prevent the main processor from slowing down so it can interact with the user in real time. Full sequential computers execute one instruction at a time based on the programmer’s interpretation of the solution to a problem. The home computer is useful for relatively simple applications that do not require very complicated processing under time pressure and are not equipped to perform connection machine functions.
There are various types of computers depending on their processor speed, data word size, and architecture. Processor speed is usually in cycles per second that a processor is synchronized or clocked in and is sometimes described as the number of floating point instructions per second. The data word size is the number of bits a processor is able to work on in a machine instruction, typically 32, 64, or 128 bits, or more for larger computers. Architecture is how parts of processors and computers are interconnected with each other. There are simple parallel computers and mass parallel computers, such as the connection machine.
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