FLEXIBLE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE USING ARRAYS OF STANDARDIZED MICROPROCESSORS CUSTOMIZED FOR PIPELINE PARALLEL OPERATIONS

A flexible architecture for digital computers can be adapted to meet the many different functional requirements of several computer models. Each model includes an array of sequential logic units. These units include respective control memories for storing commands, means for sequentially fetching and executing selectable sequences of the commands, and soft functional structures for performing customized functions in response to the commands. Included within the soft functional structures are a plurality of selectable electrical contacts which customize the functional response of the structures to the commands. Except for these contacts and the content of the respective control memories, the units are substantially identical. All of the units in the array execute respective command sequences from their control memory to perform a single instruction for the computer model.