This book illustrates interesting ways in which new parallel hardware is being used to improve performance and increase functionality for a variety of information systems. The book, containing 13 original papers, surveys the latest trends in performance enhancing architectures for smart information systems. It will appeal to all those engaged in the design or use of high-performance architectures for non-numeric applications.The machines featured throughout this text are designed to support information systems ranging from relational databases to semantic networks and other artificial intelligence paradigms. In addition, many of the projects illustrated in the book contain generic architectural ideas that support higher-level requirements and are based on semantics-free hardware designs.

1. Introduction: Parallel Database and Knowledge--Base Systems (M. Abdelguerfi & S. Lavington). DATABASE MACHINES. 2. IDIOMS: A Multitransputer Database Machine (J. Kerridge). 3. From DBC to MDBS A Progression in Database Machine Research (D. Hsiao & W. Wang). 4. Rinda: A Relational Database Processor for Large Databases (T. Satoh & U. Inoue). 5. A Paginated Set--Associate Architecture for Databases (P. Faudemay). 6. Parallel Multi--Wavefront Algorithms for Pattern--Based Processing of Object--Oriented Databases (S. Su, et al.). 7. The Datacycle Architecture: A Database Broadcast System (T. Bowen, et al.). USING MASSIVELY--PARALLEL GENERAL COMPUTING PLATFORMS FOR DBMS. 8. Industrial Database Supercomputer Exegesis: The DBC/1012, The NCR 3700, The Ynet, and The Bynet (F. Carino, et al.). 9. A Massively Parallel Indexing Engine Using DAP (N. Bond & S. Reddaway). KNOWLEDGE--BASE MACHINES. 10. The IFS/2: Add--on Support for Knowledge--Base Systems (S. Lavington). 11. EDS: An Advanced Parallel Database Server (L. Borrmann, et al.). 12. A Parallel and Distributed Environment for Database Rule Processing: Open Problems and Future Directions (S. Stolfo, et al.). ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE MACHINES. 13. IXM2: A Parallel Associative Processor for Knowledge Processing (T. Higuchi). 14. An Overview of the Knowledge Crunching Machine (J Noye).