Abstract: The pyramid computer was initially proposed for performing high-speed low-level image processing. However, its regular geometry can be adapted quite naturally to many other problems, providing effective solutions to problems more complex than those previously considered. We illustrate this by presenting pyramid computer solutions to problems involving component labeling, minimal spanning forests, nearest neighbors, transitive closure, articulation points, bridge edges, etc. Central to these algorithms is our collection of data movement techniques which exploit the pyramid's mix of tree and mesh connections. Our pyramid algorithms are significantly faster than their mesh-connected computer counterparts. For example, given a black/white square picture with n pixels, the pyramid can label the connected components in Θ(n^1/4) time, as compared with the Ω(n^1/2) time required on the mesh.

Keywords: parallel computer, pyramid computer, graph algorithms, computational geometry, image processing, component labeling, mesh computer, data movement operations, parallel algorithms, computer science

Complete paper. This paper appears in SIAM J. on Computing 16 (1987), pp. 38-60.

• Most of the contents of this paper have been incorporated into the book R Miller and QF Stout, Parallel Algorithms for Regular Architectures: Meshes and Pyramids, MIT Press, 1996
• Other papers in parallel computing
• Overview of my work in parallel computing
• A modest explanation of parallel computing

Copyright © 2005-2018 Quentin F. Stout