China Makes a Breakthrough in Aggregated Computer ����The way to connect micro-computers via express network to realize the functions of a super-scale computer is a knotty and hot problem found in parallel computer field. By now, scientists from the Computer Department of Tsinghua University have found solution to the problem. By joining hands with Tsinghua Tongfang Company they launched "Explorer 108", an aggregated computer system with a supreme floating-point computing speed of 16 billion per second. Its technical index has reached the advanced international level. ����High performance computer featuring a large storage volume and high speed calculation is generally employed in digital processing in some critical fields as oil exploration, weather forecast, gene and genome engineering, nuclear weapon production and simulation that is crucial in international high-tech competition. So, in spite of steady advances made in microcomputer performance in recent years, competitions between nations in super-scale computer manufacture have never been brought to a halt. The "Milky Way" super-scale computer and "Aurora" parallel computer have been the outstanding representatives in this field. Compared with these, the unique feature of "Explorer 108" is that it breaks away from limitations in traditional large-scale computer development and in making the choice of a simpler optimum system structure of excellent performance and of a comparatively low price for microcomputers. In its trial use in Beijing Meteorological Station for 36 hours weather forecast data computing, the time used by "Explorer 108" is the same as the US IBM company's parallel computer with 24 central processing machines. But the parallel efficiency is much higher and its price is only 1/10 of the latter. ����It is reported that new success has been made by Tsinghua Tongfang Company in developing the of the computer and its trial use on several units. HomeNews 1999-05-26 Page5 Full Story in Chinese