Floating Point Systems
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer hardware |
| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder | Norm Winningstad, Tom Prints, Frank Bouton, Robert Carter |
| Defunct | 1991 |
| Fate | Acquired by Cray |
| Successor | Cray Research Superservers, Inc. |
| Headquarters | Beaverton , United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Norm Winningstad (founder) |
| Products | Attached array processors, minisupercomputers |
Floating Point Systems, Inc. (FPS), headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, specialized in the development of attached array processors and minisupercomputers. Established in 1970 by ex-Tektronix engineer Norm Winningstad alongside partners Tom Prints, Frank Bouton, and Robert Carter—who had brought Bouton and Prince over from Tektronix—FPS concentrated on producing advanced high-performance computing hardware.
History
FPS’s mission was to deliver cost-effective yet robust floating-point coprocessor solutions tailored for minicomputer environments. The company introduced the AP-120B array processor in 1976, followed by the FPS AP-190 designed for larger systems including those from IBM. The 1981 launch of the FPS-164 and its successor, the FPS-264—which incorporated faster ECL technology—achieved performance gains up to five times greater than earlier models.
These processors found extensive application across scientific disciplines such as reflection seismology, physical chemistry, and cryptographic work at the NSA. They catered to institutions requiring substantial computational power without investing in full-scale supercomputers. Deployment numbers ranged from hundreds to thousands of units, positioning FPS as a competitor primarily against IBM’s 3838 array processor and CSP Inc.
A notable collaboration involved Cornell University, under physicist Kenneth G. Wilson, partnering with IBM on the lCAP supercomputer initiative, which integrated FPS processor arrays with an IBM mainframe.
Parallel processing
In 1986, FPS unveiled the T-Series hypercube systems utilizing INMOS transputers alongside Weitek floating-point units; the "T" denoted "Tesseract." Despite this innovation, parallel processing technologies and supporting software were still underdeveloped, making programming and input/output operations complex. Production of the T-Series was limited to a few dozen units before discontinuation, culminating in financial losses amounting to tens of millions of dollars and nearly threatening the company's viability.
Celerity acquisition; acquisition by Cray
FPS expanded in 1988 by acquiring assets from Celerity Computing based in San Diego, California, subsequently rebranding as FPS Computing. The company enhanced Celerity’s product offerings, transforming the Celerity 6000 minisupercomputer into the FPS Model 500 series.
In 1991, FPS was purchased by Cray for $3.25 million. Their technologies were assimilated into Cray’s S-MP and APP product lines. The S-MP was a multiprocessor server built on a SPARC architecture derived from the Model 500 platform; meanwhile, the MCP functioned as a matrix co-processor array incorporating eighty-four Intel i860 processors. Following this acquisition, Cray reorganized FPS into Cray Research Superservers, Inc., later renamed Cray Business Systems Division (Cray BSD). The MCP was rebranded as the Cray APP, whereas the S-MP design was phased out and succeeded by the Cray Superserver 6400 (CS6400), which indirectly stemmed from a joint effort between Sun Microsystems and Xerox PARC.
Acquisition by SGI and Sun
In 1996, Silicon Graphics acquired Cray Research but soon divested the Cray BSD division along with the CS6400 line to Sun Microsystems for an undisclosed amount later revealed to be "well below $100 million," with some estimates near $17 million. Sun Microsystems introduced a successor to the CS6400 codenamed Starfire, marketed as the Ultra Enterprise 10000 multiprocessor server. Approximately 7,000 units were sold at prices close to $1 million each, generating revenues exceeding five billion dollars in margin. This achievement was followed by the release of the Sun Fire 15K and Sun Fire 25K systems, which solidified Sun’s position as a leading vendor within the high-end server market. In January 2010, Oracle Corporation completed its acquisition of Sun.
See also
External links
- 1986 coverage of FPS - Daily Journal of Commerce
- Overview of Parallel Computing Development
- Howard Thrailkill A History of FPS Computing: Milestones
- Gordon Bell. "Supercomputing: A Concise Historical Account (1965–2002)"
- Articles with short description
- 1970 establishments in Oregon
- 1991 disestablishments in Oregon
- 1991 mergers and acquisitions
- American companies established in 1970
- American companies disestablished in 1991
- Beaverton, Oregon
- Computer companies established in 1970
- Computer companies disestablished in 1991
- Defunct companies based in Oregon
- Defunct computer companies of the United States
- Defunct computer hardware companies
- Defunct computer systems companies
- Electronics companies established in 1970
- Electronics companies disestablished in 1991
- Floating point