Flynn's classical taxonomy

Parallel computers can be classified in at least four ways:

• Single Instruction stream Single Data stream (SISD)
• Single Instruction stream Multiple Data stream (SIMD)
• Multiple Instruction stream Single Data stream (MISD)
• Multiple Instruction stream Multiple Data stream (MIMD)

These classifications are discussed in more detail in the Appendix:

Michael J. Flynn proposed this classification in 1966, and it is still in use today. The Cray-1 and the CDC 7600 supercomputer discussed in the following sections are of the SISD class. Use the following link to learn more about Flynn: .