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Abstract: The SANE Virtual Processor (SVP) is an abstract concurrent programming model that is both deadlock free and supports efficient implementation. It is captured by the μTC programming language. The work presented in this paper covers a portable implementation of this model as a C++ library on top of POSIX threads. Programs in μTC can be translated to the standard C++ syntax and linked with this library to run on conventional systems. The motivation for this work was to provide an early implementation on conventional processors as well as supporting work from programming FPGA chips to Grids. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Future many-core processor systems require scalable solutions that conventional architectures currently do not provide. This paper presents a novel architecture that demonstrates the required scalability. It is based on a model of computation developed in the AETHER project to provide a safe and composable approach to concurrent programming. The model supports a dynamic approach to concurrency that enables self-adaptivity in any environment so the model is quite general. It is implemented here in the instruction set of a dynamically scheduled RISC processor and many such processors form a microgrid. Binary compatibility over arbitrary clusters of such processors and an inherent scalability in both area and performance with concurrency exploited make this a very promising development for the era of many-core chips. This paper introduces the model, the processor and chip architecture and its emulation on a range of computational kernels. It also estimates the area of the structures required to support this model in silicon. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]