Ardent Computer
Encyclopedia
The Ardent Computer Corporation was a graphics minicomputer
manufacturing company. The systems also used the Intel i860
as graphics co-processors. The company went through a series of mergers and re-organizations and changed names several times as their venture capital
funders attempted to find a market niche for their "graphics supercomputers". After a series of machines that were not particularly successful in the marketplace, they used parts of their design to create graphics subsystems for other workstations, notably DEC
machines, but eventually shut down completely in February 1995.
. Their aim was to produce a desktop multiprocessing
supercomputer
dedicated to graphics that could support up to four processor units. Each processor unit consisted initially of a MIPS R2000
CPU, and later a R3000
, connected to a custom vector processor
. The vector unit held 8,192 sixty-four-bit registers that could be used in any way from 8,192 one-word to thirty-two 256-word registers. This compares to modern SIMD
systems which allow for perhaps eight to sixteen 128-bit registers with a small variety of addressing schemes.
Ardent software ran on Unix
System V Release 3 with proprietary support for the four-way SMP
and the vector processor
. The compiler was based on the Convex
Fortran
(and C) compiler. Their significant graphics system for visualization was DORE (Dynamic Object Rendering Environment).
After learning that the name Dana was already in use by a local disk drive company, they became Ardent. Their business plan called for their Titan system to outperform anything in the market, to be ready for beta testing in July 1987, and sell at a price of around $50,000. By late 1986, it was clear their estimates were unrealistic, the machine was still not ready and considerably more development was needed. A second round of funding was provided by Kubota Corporation, a Japanese heavy industries player (best known in North America for their tractor
s) who was cash-flush and looking for new opportunities. Kubota agreed not only to fund the completion of the Titan but also to provide production facilities in Japan. By the time it was finally ready for testing in February 1988, the performance leadership position of Titan had been eroded, and the price had risen to $80,000.
area by former Apollo Computer
employees, and this new company was aiming to produce a workstation
system with enough performance to be a serious threat to the Titan, and at a lower price. Ardent responded by starting work on a new desktop system called Stiletto, which featured two MIPS R3000
s (paired with two R3010 FPU
s) and four i860s for graphics processing (the i860s replaced the vector units).
In 1989 Kubota forced a merger of the two to produce Stardent Computers, Inc.
. In an odd twist, the original Stellar group was left with most of the corporate power. A number of the Ardent employees were less than happy with this move, and quit to form other companies. Others attempted to get Kubota to spin off the original development group as a new company called Comet, but nothing came of this.
In 1990 Stiletto was entering beta when the east-coast management decided to shut down the entire west coast office. Kubota finally saw the error of their ways, and attempted to get Stardent to continue development of Stiletto, and when they failed to do so, formed Kubota Pacific Computers. However Stardent owned the rights to the Titan and Stiletto lines, so the new company had to develop new machines from scratch. Stardent itself eventually went bankrupt in late 1991, selling the rights back to Kubota.
had wrapped up the entire (small) 3D graphics market. Kubota Pacific cast about looking for direction, before finally settling on a desktop-sized 3D graphics accelerator for the Alpha
-based DEC 3000 AXP
workstations, called Denali. The company also bought DEC 3000 AXP workstations, packaged them with the Denali, and sold the integrated product as the Kenai workstation. Somewhere during this period the company changed its name again, becoming Kubota Graphics Company. Denali ended up being an excellent product, but sales were not enough to keep the company going. Kubota Graphics closed down in 1994.
in 1998.
Minicomputer
A minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
manufacturing company. The systems also used the Intel i860
Intel i860
The Intel i860 was a RISC microprocessor from Intel, first released in 1989. The i860 was one of Intel's first attempts at an entirely new, high-end instruction set since the failed Intel i432 from the 1980s...
as graphics co-processors. The company went through a series of mergers and re-organizations and changed names several times as their venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
funders attempted to find a market niche for their "graphics supercomputers". After a series of machines that were not particularly successful in the marketplace, they used parts of their design to create graphics subsystems for other workstations, notably DEC
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation was a major American company in the computer industry and a leading vendor of computer systems, software and peripherals from the 1960s to the 1990s...
machines, but eventually shut down completely in February 1995.
Origins
Ardent started as Dana Computer, Inc. in November 1985 in Silicon ValleySilicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
. Their aim was to produce a desktop multiprocessing
Multiprocessing
Multiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units within a single computer system. The term also refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them...
supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
dedicated to graphics that could support up to four processor units. Each processor unit consisted initially of a MIPS R2000
R2000 (microprocessor)
The R2000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in January 1986, it was the first commercial implementation of the MIPS architecture and the first merchant RISC processor available to all companies...
CPU, and later a R3000
R3000
The R3000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the R2000 as the flagship MIPS microprocessor...
, connected to a custom vector processor
Vector processor
A vector processor, or array processor, is a central processing unit that implements an instruction set containing instructions that operate on one-dimensional arrays of data called vectors. This is in contrast to a scalar processor, whose instructions operate on single data items...
. The vector unit held 8,192 sixty-four-bit registers that could be used in any way from 8,192 one-word to thirty-two 256-word registers. This compares to modern SIMD
SIMD
Single instruction, multiple data , is a class of parallel computers in Flynn's taxonomy. It describes computers with multiple processing elements that perform the same operation on multiple data simultaneously...
systems which allow for perhaps eight to sixteen 128-bit registers with a small variety of addressing schemes.
Ardent software ran on Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
System V Release 3 with proprietary support for the four-way SMP
SMP
-In technology:* Shape memory polymers, in the field of chemical engineering.* Simulation Model Portability: A standard developed by ESA and ECSS for space mission simulators....
and the vector processor
Vector processor
A vector processor, or array processor, is a central processing unit that implements an instruction set containing instructions that operate on one-dimensional arrays of data called vectors. This is in contrast to a scalar processor, whose instructions operate on single data items...
. The compiler was based on the Convex
Convex Computer
Convex Computer Corporation was a company that developed, manufactured and marketed vector minisupercomputers and supercomputers for small-to-medium-sized businesses. Their later Exemplar series of parallel computing machines were based on the Hewlett-Packard PA-RISC microprocessors, and in 1995,...
Fortran
Fortran
Fortran is a general-purpose, procedural, imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing...
(and C) compiler. Their significant graphics system for visualization was DORE (Dynamic Object Rendering Environment).
After learning that the name Dana was already in use by a local disk drive company, they became Ardent. Their business plan called for their Titan system to outperform anything in the market, to be ready for beta testing in July 1987, and sell at a price of around $50,000. By late 1986, it was clear their estimates were unrealistic, the machine was still not ready and considerably more development was needed. A second round of funding was provided by Kubota Corporation, a Japanese heavy industries player (best known in North America for their tractor
Tractor
A tractor is a vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery used in agriculture or construction...
s) who was cash-flush and looking for new opportunities. Kubota agreed not only to fund the completion of the Titan but also to provide production facilities in Japan. By the time it was finally ready for testing in February 1988, the performance leadership position of Titan had been eroded, and the price had risen to $80,000.
Stardent
At almost the same time, Stellar Computer was founded in the BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area by former Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer
Apollo Computer, Inc., founded 1980 in Chelmsford, Massachusetts by William Poduska and others, developed and produced Apollo/Domain workstations in the 1980s. Along with Symbolics and Sun Microsystems, Apollo was one of the first vendors of graphical workstations in the 1980s...
employees, and this new company was aiming to produce a workstation
Workstation
A workstation is a high-end microcomputer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by one person at a time, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems...
system with enough performance to be a serious threat to the Titan, and at a lower price. Ardent responded by starting work on a new desktop system called Stiletto, which featured two MIPS R3000
R3000
The R3000 is a microprocessor chip set developed by MIPS Computer Systems that implemented the MIPS I instruction set architecture . Introduced in June 1988, it was the second MIPS implementation, succeeding the R2000 as the flagship MIPS microprocessor...
s (paired with two R3010 FPU
Floating point unit
A floating-point unit is a part of a computer system specially designed to carry out operations on floating point numbers. Typical operations are addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and square root...
s) and four i860s for graphics processing (the i860s replaced the vector units).
In 1989 Kubota forced a merger of the two to produce Stardent Computers, Inc.
Stardent Inc.
-History:Stardent Inc. was formed from the merger of Ardent Computer Corporation and Stellar Computer Inc.. The merger was announced on August 30, 1989. Ardent was based in Sunnyvale, California and Stellar was based in Newton, Massachusetts. In early July 1990, the west coast portion of...
. In an odd twist, the original Stellar group was left with most of the corporate power. A number of the Ardent employees were less than happy with this move, and quit to form other companies. Others attempted to get Kubota to spin off the original development group as a new company called Comet, but nothing came of this.
In 1990 Stiletto was entering beta when the east-coast management decided to shut down the entire west coast office. Kubota finally saw the error of their ways, and attempted to get Stardent to continue development of Stiletto, and when they failed to do so, formed Kubota Pacific Computers. However Stardent owned the rights to the Titan and Stiletto lines, so the new company had to develop new machines from scratch. Stardent itself eventually went bankrupt in late 1991, selling the rights back to Kubota.
Kubota Pacific Computers
By this point SGISilicon Graphics
Silicon Graphics, Inc. was a manufacturer of high-performance computing solutions, including computer hardware and software, founded in 1981 by Jim Clark...
had wrapped up the entire (small) 3D graphics market. Kubota Pacific cast about looking for direction, before finally settling on a desktop-sized 3D graphics accelerator for the Alpha
DEC Alpha
Alpha, originally known as Alpha AXP, is a 64-bit reduced instruction set computer instruction set architecture developed by Digital Equipment Corporation , designed to replace the 32-bit VAX complex instruction set computer ISA and its implementations. Alpha was implemented in microprocessors...
-based DEC 3000 AXP
DEC 3000 AXP
DEC 3000 AXP was the name given to a series of computer workstations and servers, produced from 1992 to around 1995 by Digital Equipment Corporation. The DEC 3000 AXP series formed part of the first generation of computer systems based on the 64-bit Alpha AXP architecture...
workstations, called Denali. The company also bought DEC 3000 AXP workstations, packaged them with the Denali, and sold the integrated product as the Kenai workstation. Somewhere during this period the company changed its name again, becoming Kubota Graphics Company. Denali ended up being an excellent product, but sales were not enough to keep the company going. Kubota Graphics closed down in 1994.
AccelGraphics
In 1994 Kubota Graphics was bought by AccelGraphics, the maker of AccelGraphics AG300 and AG500. AccelGraphics in turn was acquired by Evans & SutherlandEvans & Sutherland
Evans & Sutherland is a computer firm involved in the computer graphics field. Their products are used primarily by the military and large industrial firms for training and simulation, and in digital projection environments like planetariums.-History:...
in 1998.