wheel of reincarnation
[coined in a paper by T. H. Myer
and I.E. Sutherland "On the Design of Display Processors", Comm.
ACM, Vol. 11, no. 6, June 1968)] Term used to refer to a well-known
effect whereby function in a computing system family is migrated
out to special-purpose peripheral hardware for speed, then the
peripheral evolves toward more computing power as it does its job,
then somebody notices that it is inefficient to support two
asymmetrical processors in the architecture and folds the function
back into the main CPU, at which point the cycle begins again.
Several iterations of this cycle have been observed in
graphics-processor design, and at least one or two in
communications and floating-point processors. Also known as `the
Wheel of Life', `the Wheel of Samsara', and other variations of
the basic Hindu/Buddhist theological idea. See also blitter,
bit bang.
[coined in a paper by T. H. Myer
and I.E. Sutherland "On the Design of Display Processors", Comm.
ACM, Vol. 11, no. 6, June 1968)] Term used to refer to a well-known
effect whereby function in a computing system family is migrated
out to special-purpose peripheral hardware for speed, then the
peripheral evolves toward more computing power as it does its job,
then somebody notices that it is inefficient to support two
asymmetrical processors in the architecture and folds the function
back into the main CPU, at which point the cycle begins again.
Several iterations of this cycle have been observed in
graphics-processor design, and at least one or two in
communications and floating-point processors. Also known as `the
Wheel of Life', `the Wheel of Samsara', and other variations of
the basic Hindu/Buddhist theological idea. See also blitter,
bit bang.
Related:
- cycle of reincarnation: [coined by Ivan Sutherland ca.
1970] n. Term used to refer to a well-known effect... - blitter: /blit'r/ n. A special-purpose chip or hardware system
built to perform {blit} operations,
esp. used for fast implementation of bit-mapped... - blitter /blit'r/ n.
[common] A special-purpose chip
or hardware system built to perform blit operations,
esp. used for fast implementation of bit-mapped... - bug n.
An unwanted and unintended property of a program or
piece of hardware,
esp. one that causes it to malfunction. Antonym... - Multics /muhl'tiks/ n.
[from "MULTiplexed
Information and Computing Service"] An early time-sharing
operating system co-designed by a consortium including MIT,
GE, and Bell Laboratories as a successor to CTSS. ... - cycle of reincarnation n.
See wheel of reincarnation... - kluge /klooj/
[from the German `klug', clever; poss.
related to Polish `klucz' (a key, a hint, a main point)]... - SIG /sig/ n.
(also common as a prefix in combining forms)
A Special Interest Group,
in one of several technical areas, sponsored by... - SIG: /sig/ n. (also common as a prefix in combining forms) A Special
Interest Group,
in one of several technical areas, sponsored by the...
From the same category:
- freeware n.
[common] Free software, often written by
enthusiasts and distributed by users' groups,
or via electronic mail, local bulletin boards, Usenet... - munching n.
Exploration of security holes of someone else's
computer for thrills,
notoriety, or to annoy the system manager. Compare... - wall interj.
[WPI] 1. An indication of confusion,
usually spoken with a quizzical tone: "Wall??" ... - user-friendly adj.
Programmer-hostile. Generally used by
hackers in a critical tone,
to describe systems that hold the user's hand so... - balloonian variable n.
[Commodore users; perh. a deliberate
phonetic mangling of `boolean variable'?] Any variable that
doesn't actually hold or control state,
but must nevertheless be ...
