Cray/NSA Info

[Anonymous User <nobody@c2.org>]

SUBJECT:  CRAY COMPUTER CORP. AWARDED DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT FOR CRAY-3/SUPER
          SCALABLE SYSTEM

  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ via INDIVIDUAL, Inc. -- Cray
Computer Corp. (Nasdaq: CRAY) and the National Security Agency (NSA) have
entered into a joint development contract, valued at up to $9.2 million, to
produce a CRAY-3/Super Scalable System (SSS).  The CRAY-3/SSS will be a
hybrid high performance system that will offer vector parallel processing,
scalable parallel processing and the combination of both.  Under the terms
of the contract, Cray Computer Corp. will be paid up to $4.2 million for
development costs, and the Government will provide approximately $400,000 in
software consulting services.  The company is responsible for the balance of
the development costs.  In addition, the company will have rights to use
certain Government technologies.

  George Cotter, chief scientist for the NSA stated, "NSA selected Cray
Computer Corp. to develop the CRAY-3/Super Scalable System because of its
advanced technologies and the CRAY-3 architecture.  This is an important
initiative of the Federal High Performance Computing and Communications
(HPCC) program."  Chuck Breckenridge, executive vice president for Cray
Computer Corp., noted, "The CRAY-3/SSS will provide unparalleled performance
for many promising applications.  We are pleased to participate in this
transfer of Government technology and we are eager to help potential
customers explore and develop appropriate applications."

  This development project is based on a September 1993 feasibility study
recommending a hybrid supercomputer composed of a CRAY-3 and a large number
of Processor-In-Memory (PIM) chips, developed by the Supercomputing Research
Center (SRC: Institute for Defense Analyses). The SRC will provide
significant technical assistance in both the software and hardware aspects
of the system.  The Government's technology transfer program is intended to
maintain the country's technology leadership position by providing a cost
sharing arrangementfor development and commercialization of advanced
Government technologies.
  The high performance system will consist of a dual processor 256 million
word CRAY-3 and a 512,000 processor 128 million byte Single Instruction-
Multiple Data (SIMD) array.  This CRAY-3/Super Scalable System will provide
high-performance vector parallel processing, scalable parallel processing
and the combination of both in a hybrid mode featuring extremely high
bandwidth between the PIM processor array and the CRAY-3.  SIMD arrays of 1
million processors are expected to be available using the current version of
the PIM chip once this development project is completed.

  The scalable array will connect to the CRAY-3 memory interface and will be
addressable as standard memory to facilitate use of the SIMD array with
minimal delays for data transfer.  The PIM chip, containing 64 single bit
processors and 128K bits of memory, was developed by the Supercomputing
Research Center for NSA, and tested on a Sun/SPARC workstation with a
parallel version of the C language.  Cray Computer Corp. will package PIM
chips utilizing its advanced multiple chip module (MCM) packaging technology
that allows the CRAY-3 to operate with a record breaking 2.08 nanosecond
clock rate.  The PIM chips are manufactured by National Semiconductor Corp.
The CRAY-3/SSS is expected to be demonstrated in the first quarter of 1995.
After this initial demonstration, interested parties will be invited to try
out other applications.

  The CRAY-3 memory interface bandwidth will allow the application specific
SIMD array to provide dramatic performance improvements over existing
architectures for bit and image processing, pattern recognition, signal
processing, and sophisticated graphics applications. A notable strength of
the SIMD processor array is variable precision floating point for those
frequently occurring applications requiring less (and sometimes more) than
the standard 64 bit IEEE floating point arithmetic.  A substantial
applications base is available for the CRAY-3 and Cray Computer Corp. is
committed to working closely with customers to develop traditional high
performance vector and scalable applications.

  For suitable applications, the SIMD processor array option offers up to 32
Trillion Bit Operations per Second and provides price/performance
unavailable today on any other high performance platform.  The CRAY-3 system
with the SSS option will be offered as an application specific product and
will be well positioned in the evolving supercomputer marketplace.

  Seymour Cray stated that, "The CRAY-3/SSS development project leverages
the Company's existing technologies and accelerates our program to develop
parallel architectures and software to reach the TeraFLOPS performance
level.  I see a strong SIMD architectural component as crucial to a complete
parallel supercomputer capability."

  Cray Computer Corp. is engaged in the design, development, manufacture and
marketing of CRAY-3, CRAY-3/SSS, and CRAY-4 supercomputer systems.

  /CONTACT:  Terry Willkom, president, or William Skolout, CFO, 719-679-
6464, both of Cray Computer; or Mary Ann Phillips, director of Corporate
Communications, of National Semiconductor, 408-721-2646/ (CRAY)