<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
was	O
a	O
series	O
of	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
computers	O
from	O
the	O
company	O
of	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
generations	O
of	O
the	O
hardware	O
used	O
a	O
custom	O
microprocessor	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
its	O
final	O
generations	O
of	O
servers	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
no	O
longer	O
designed	O
custom	O
microprocessors	B-Architecture
for	O
machines	O
,	O
but	O
used	O
server-class	O
chips	O
manufactured	O
by	O
a	O
third	O
party	O
in	O
massively	B-Operating_System
parallel	I-Operating_System
hardware	O
deployments	O
,	O
primarily	O
for	O
the	O
purposes	O
of	O
on-demand	B-Application
video	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1983	O
in	O
Beaverton	O
,	O
Oregon	O
,	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
Intel	O
employees	O
(	O
Steve	O
Colley	O
,	O
Bill	O
Richardson	O
,	O
John	O
Palmer	O
,	O
Doran	O
Wilde	O
,	O
Dave	O
Jurasek	O
)	O
frustrated	O
by	O
Intel	O
's	O
reluctance	O
to	O
enter	O
the	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
market	O
,	O
though	O
Intel	O
released	O
its	O
iPSC/1	B-Device
in	O
the	O
same	O
year	O
as	O
the	O
first	O
nCUBE	B-Application
was	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
1985	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
generation	O
of	O
nCUBE	B-Application
's	O
hypercube	B-Operating_System
machines	O
were	O
released	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1988	O
,	O
Larry	O
Ellison	O
invested	O
heavily	O
in	O
nCUBE	B-Application
and	O
became	O
the	O
company	O
's	O
majority	O
shareholder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
's	O
headquarters	O
were	O
relocated	O
to	O
Foster	O
City	O
,	O
California	O
,	O
to	O
be	O
closer	O
to	O
the	B-Application
Oracle	I-Application
Corporation	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1994	O
,	O
Ronald	O
Dilbeck	O
became	O
CEO	O
and	O
set	O
nCUBE	B-Application
on	O
a	O
fast	O
track	O
to	O
an	O
initial	O
public	O
offering	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
Ellison	O
downsized	O
nCUBE	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dilbeck	O
left	O
and	O
Ellison	O
took	O
over	O
as	O
acting	O
CEO	O
,	O
redirecting	O
the	O
company	O
to	O
become	O
Oracle	B-Application
's	O
Network	B-Operating_System
Computer	I-Operating_System
division	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
network	B-Operating_System
computer	I-Operating_System
diversion	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
resumed	O
development	O
on	O
video	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
deployed	O
its	O
first	O
VOD	O
video	O
server	O
in	O
Dubai	O
's	O
Burj	O
al-Arab	O
hotel	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
announced	O
it	O
was	O
acquiring	O
SkyConnect	O
,	O
a	O
seven-year-old	O
software	O
company	O
based	O
in	O
Louisville	O
,	O
Colorado	O
,	O
which	O
developed	O
digital	O
advertising	O
and	O
VOD	O
software	O
for	O
cable	O
television	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
shifted	O
its	O
focus	O
from	O
the	O
parallel	B-Operating_System
computing	I-Operating_System
market	O
and	O
,	O
by	O
1999	O
,	O
had	O
identified	O
itself	O
as	O
a	O
video	B-Application
on	I-Application
demand	I-Application
(	O
VOD	O
)	O
solutions	O
provider	O
,	O
shipping	O
over	O
100	O
VOD	O
systems	O
delivering	O
17,000	O
streams	O
and	O
establishing	O
a	O
relationship	O
with	O
Microsoft	O
TV	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2000	O
,	O
SeaChange	O
International	O
filed	O
a	O
patent	O
infringement	O
suit	O
against	O
nCUBE	B-Application
,	O
alleging	O
its	O
nCUBE	B-Application
MediaCube-4	O
product	O
infringed	O
on	O
a	O
SeaChange	O
patent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
separate	O
lawsuit	O
against	O
SeaChange	O
was	O
filed	O
by	O
nCUBE	B-Application
in	O
2001	O
after	O
it	O
acquired	O
the	O
patents	O
from	O
Oracle	B-Application
's	O
interactive	O
television	O
division	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
claimed	O
that	O
SeaChange	O
's	O
video	O
server	O
offering	O
violated	O
its	O
VOD	O
patent	O
on	O
delivery	O
to	O
set-top	O
boxes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
won	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
and	O
was	O
awarded	O
over	O
$2	O
million	O
in	O
damages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
business	O
front	O
,	O
the	O
dot-com	O
bubble	O
burst	O
and	O
ensuing	O
recession	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
lawsuits	O
meant	O
that	O
nCUBE	B-Application
was	O
not	O
doing	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2001	O
nCUBE	B-Application
laid	O
off	O
17%	O
of	O
its	O
workforce	O
and	O
began	O
closing	O
offices	O
(	O
Foster	O
City	O
in	O
2002	O
and	O
Louisville	O
in	O
2003	O
)	O
to	O
downsize	O
and	O
consolidate	O
the	O
company	O
around	O
its	O
Beaverton	O
manufacturing	O
office	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2005	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
C-COR	O
for	O
approximately	O
$89.5	O
million	O
,	O
with	O
an	O
SEC	O
filing	O
for	O
the	O
purchase	O
in	O
October	O
2004	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2007	O
,	O
C-COR	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
the	O
ARRIS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
nCUBE	B-Application
machines	O
to	O
be	O
released	O
was	O
the	O
nCUBE	B-Application
10	O
of	O
late	O
1985	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
originally	O
called	O
NCUBE/ten	O
but	O
the	O
name	O
morphed	O
over	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
custom	O
chips	O
,	O
where	O
each	O
compute	O
node	O
had	O
a	O
processor	O
chip	O
with	O
32-bit	O
ALU	B-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
64-bit	B-Device
IEEE	O
754	O
FPU	B-General_Concept
,	O
special	O
communication	O
instructions	O
,	O
and	O
128	O
KB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
node	O
delivered	O
2	O
MIPS	O
,	O
500	O
kiloFLOPS	O
(	O
32-bit	O
single	O
precision	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
300	O
kiloFLOPS	O
(	O
64-bit	B-Device
double	O
precision	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
host	O
board	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
80286	I-General_Concept
,	O
ran	O
Axis	O
,	O
a	O
custom	O
Unix-like	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
each	O
compute	O
node	O
ran	O
a	O
4KB	O
kernel	O
,	O
Vertex	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCUBE	B-Application
10	O
referred	O
to	O
the	O
machine	O
's	O
ability	O
to	O
build	O
an	O
order-ten	O
hypercube	B-Operating_System
,	O
supporting	O
1,024	O
CPUs	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
the	O
modules	O
would	O
be	O
used	O
strictly	O
for	O
input/output	B-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
included	O
the	O
nChannel	O
storage	O
control	O
card	O
,	O
frame	B-Algorithm
buffers	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
the	O
InterSystem	O
card	O
that	O
allowed	O
nCUBEs	B-Application
to	O
be	O
attached	O
to	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
could	O
also	O
partition	B-General_Concept
the	I-General_Concept
machine	I-General_Concept
into	I-General_Concept
"	I-General_Concept
sub-cubes	I-General_Concept
"	I-General_Concept
and	O
allocate	O
them	O
separately	O
to	O
different	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
second	O
series	O
the	O
naming	O
was	O
changed	O
,	O
and	O
they	O
created	O
the	O
single-chip	O
nCUBE	B-Application
2	O
processor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
otherwise	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
nCUBE	B-Application
10	O
's	O
CPU	O
,	O
but	O
ran	O
faster	O
,	O
at	O
25	O
MHz	O
to	O
provide	O
about	O
7	O
MIPS	O
and	O
3.5	O
megaFLOPS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAM	B-Architecture
was	O
increased	O
as	O
well	O
,	O
with	O
4	O
to	O
16	O
MB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
on	O
a	O
"	O
single	O
wide	O
"	O
1	O
inch	O
x	O
3.5	O
inch	O
module	O
,	O
with	O
additional	O
form	O
factors	O
of	O
"	O
double	O
wide	O
"	O
(	O
double	O
modules	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
quadruple	O
that	O
in	O
a	O
double	O
wide	O
,	O
double	O
side	O
module	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
cards	O
generally	O
had	O
less	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
with	O
different	O
backend	O
interfaces	O
to	O
support	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
,	O
HIPPI	B-Architecture
and	O
other	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
nCUBE	B-Application
2	O
CPU	O
also	O
included	O
13	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
channels	O
running	O
at	O
20	O
Mbit/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
these	O
was	O
dedicated	O
to	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
duties	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
other	O
twelve	O
were	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
interconnect	O
system	O
between	O
CPUs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
channel	O
used	O
wormhole	B-Protocol
routing	I-Protocol
to	O
forward	O
messages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
machines	O
themselves	O
were	O
wired	O
up	O
as	O
order-twelve	O
hypercubes	B-Operating_System
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
up	O
to	O
4,096	O
CPUs	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
machine	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
module	O
ran	O
a	O
200	O
KB	O
microkernel	B-Operating_System
called	O
nCX	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
system	O
now	O
used	O
a	O
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
workstation	B-Device
as	O
the	O
front	O
end	O
and	O
no	O
longer	O
needed	O
the	O
Host	O
Controller	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
nCX	O
included	O
a	O
parallel	B-Application
filesystem	I-Application
that	O
could	O
do	O
96-way	O
striping	B-General_Concept
for	O
high	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
C	B-Language
and	O
C++	B-Language
languages	I-Language
are	O
available	O
,	O
as	O
is	O
NQS	O
,	O
Linda	B-Language
,	O
and	O
Parasoft	O
's	O
Express	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
largest	O
nCUBE	B-Application
2	O
system	O
installed	O
was	O
at	O
Sandia	O
National	O
Laboratories	O
,	O
a	O
1,024	O
-CPU	O
system	O
that	O
reached	O
1.91	O
gigaFLOPS	O
in	O
testing	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
the	O
nCX	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
it	O
also	O
ran	O
the	O
SUNMOS	O
lightweight	O
kernel	O
for	O
research	O
purposes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Researchers	O
Robert	O
Benner	O
,	O
John	O
Gustafson	O
and	O
Gary	O
Montry	O
of	O
the	O
Parallel	B-Operating_System
Processing	I-Operating_System
Division	O
of	O
Sandia	O
National	O
Laboratory	O
first	O
won	O
the	O
Karp	O
Prize	O
of	O
$100	O
and	O
then	O
won	O
the	O
first	O
Gordon	O
Bell	O
Prize	O
in	O
1987	O
using	O
the	O
nCUBE	B-Application
10	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nCUBE-3	O
CPU	O
used	O
a	O
64-bit	B-Device
arithmetic	B-General_Concept
logic	I-General_Concept
unit	I-General_Concept
(	O
ALU	B-General_Concept
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
CPU	O
was	O
also	O
superscalar	B-General_Concept
and	O
included	O
16	O
KB	O
instruction	O
and	O
data	B-General_Concept
caches	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
a	O
memory	B-General_Concept
management	I-General_Concept
unit	I-General_Concept
for	O
virtual	O
memory	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additional	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
links	O
were	O
added	O
,	O
with	O
2	O
dedicated	O
to	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
and	O
16	O
for	O
interconnects	O
,	O
allowing	O
for	O
up	O
to	O
65,536	O
CPUs	O
in	O
the	O
hypercube	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nCUBE-3	O
also	O
added	O
fault-tolerant	B-General_Concept
adaptive	O
routing	O
support	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
fixed	O
routing	O
,	O
although	O
in	O
retrospect	O
it	O
's	O
not	O
entirely	O
clear	O
why	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
fully	O
loaded	O
nCUBE-3	O
machine	O
can	O
use	O
up	O
to	O
65,536	O
processors	O
,	O
for	O
3	O
million	O
MIPS	O
and	O
6.5	O
teraFLOPS	O
;	O
the	O
maximum	O
memory	O
would	O
be	O
65	O
TB	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
network	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
capability	O
of	O
24	O
TB/second	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
the	O
processor	O
is	O
biased	O
in	O
terms	O
of	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
,	O
which	O
is	O
usually	O
the	O
limitation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nChannel	O
board	O
provides	O
16	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
channels	O
,	O
where	O
each	O
channel	O
can	O
support	O
transfers	O
at	O
20	O
MB/s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
microkernel	B-Operating_System
was	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
nCUBE-3	O
machine	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
never	O
completed	O
,	O
having	O
been	O
abandoned	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
Plan	B-Operating_System
9	I-Operating_System
's	O
Transit	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nCUBE-4	O
marked	O
the	O
transition	O
to	O
commodity	O
processors	O
,	O
with	O
each	O
node	O
containing	O
an	O
Intel	O
IA32	O
server-class	O
CPU	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
n4	O
also	O
brought	O
exclusive	O
focus	O
on	O
video	B-Application
streaming	I-Application
rather	O
than	O
scientific	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
hub	O
contained	O
one	O
hypercube	B-Operating_System
node	O
,	O
one	O
CPU	O
,	O
a	O
pair	O
of	O
PCI	B-Protocol
buses	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
12	O
SCSI	B-Architecture
drives	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
nCUBE-5	O
was	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
n4	O
family	O
but	O
incorporated	O
two	O
hypercube	B-Operating_System
nodes	O
in	O
each	O
hub	O
and	O
only	O
supported	O
video	B-Application
streaming	I-Application
over	O
Gigabit	O
Ethernet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
,	O
nCUBE	B-Application
announced	O
the	O
MediaCUBE	O
4	O
,	O
which	O
supported	O
80	O
simultaneous	O
3	O
Mbit/s	O
streams	O
to	O
44,000	O
simultaneous	O
VOD	O
streams	O
,	O
in	O
concurrent	B-Operating_System
MPEG-2	B-Algorithm
,	O
MPEG-1	B-Algorithm
and	O
mid	O
bit-rate	O
encoding	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
