Purpose: Investigate parallel algorithm speedup on off the shelf or custom build SIMD and MIMD hardware.

Aug 2010: Parallax Propeller based Parallel Multicore Special Purpose Processor Array

The goal of this experiment is to scope, design and build as large a connected grid of Parallax Propeller based 8 core controllers as possible.
All in the interest of understanding parallelization of hardware and software and how this will help me better understand concurrency issues.
The application will initially be an implementation of cellular automata because of its simplicity and ease of mapping to a cluster of connected processors.

Hardware:

XMOS XCore G4 with XLink (4 cores - 32 threads)

Xilinx Spartan 3AN FPGA

Altera Cyclone II FPGA

Actel SmartFusion FPGA and ARM core