Multicomputer network

Claim 1

A multicomputer network, comprising a plurality of individual computers where communication patterns between said plurality of individual computers can be altered, for carrying out distributed computing, said distributed computing further comprises decomposing a program into a plurality of different modules that can be concurrently executed by said plurality of computers; said multicomputer network comprising: said plurality of individual computers each having a unique address in the network; an interconnection system for interconnecting said computers to allow different communication patterns; interface means for connecting said computers to said interconnection system; and a centralized bus controller for controlling the transmission of messages among said plurality of individual computers in a predetermined sequence and directly from a transmitting computer to a receiving computer; said bus controller is the sole controller of said interconnection system at all times; wherein said bus controller comprises: (A) means for selecting a next computer in said sequence for sending a message; (B) means for changing said sequence; (C) means for decoding the address of the receiving computer in said message from said transmitting computer sending said message; (D) control timing generator means for providing all control signals of said inerconnection system required to effect a message transfer from said transmitting computer to said receiving computer; (E) a synchronous commmunication interface means for the display of bus status information to an operator to allow for system monitoring; (F) real time clock means for time stamping each message to aid in error recovery procedures in distributed computing; (G) processor means for determining the sequence in which means (A) to (F) of the bus controller will be used in the process of controlling the transmission of messages between said plurality of computers; said interface means comprising a plurality of interface units equal in number to said plurality of said computers; a separate interface unit being connected to respective separate one of said pluraity of computers, the respective computer to which an interface unit is connected being its host computer; each said interface unit comprising: storage means for storing messages to be received and meassages to be transmitted by the host computer of the interface unit, said storage means having a status of either empty or full; means for checking the status of the storage means; access vector means containing addresses of computers which can communicate with the host computer of the interface unit and addresses of computers with which the host computer of the interface unit can communicate, and the directions of such permitted communications; where, the access vectors of all the computers of the network together define, and/or redefine, said communication pattern among the computers of the network in order to support different decompositions in distributed computing; lock means for preventing unauthorized access, by application programs running on the host computer of said interface unit, to said interconnection system; control register means for setting the mode of the means for checking the status of the storage means; wherein said interconnection system comprises a network bus, each said individual computers comprise an interval system bus, and said processor means of said bus controller comprises a controller system bus.