[2009] Exploring the Possible Past Futures of a Single Part Type Multi-core PIM Chip

Execube, a chip built in 1993, was most probablythe world's first true multi-core microprocessor, the world's first Processing-In-Memory chip built on a DRAM process, and oneof the earliest attempts to build a single part type chip out ofwhich larger parallel processors could be built. This paper looksback on that chip and explores what would have happened ifits development had continued through succeeding generationsof technology. Several different scenarios are explored, withdiscussions as to what the capabilities would have been, andwhere limitations would have surfaced.