# Coprocessors: failures and successes

## TL;DR

This paper reviews the history, characteristics, and viability of various coprocessors from mainframes to modern supercomputers, analyzing their successes and failures over time.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of coprocessor evolution, identifying key factors influencing their success or failure in different computing eras.

## Key findings

- Coprocessors' success depends on integration and application-specific advantages.
- Historical analysis reveals patterns in coprocessor adoption and abandonment.
- Viability conditions for future coprocessors are defined.

## Abstract

The appearance and disappearance of coprocessors by integration into the CPU, the success or failure of coprocessors are examined by summarizing their characteristics from the mainframes of the 1960s. The coprocessors most particularly reviewed are the IBM 360 and CDC-6600 I/O processors, the Intel 8087 math coprocessor, the Cell processor, the Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors, the GPUs, the FPGAs, and the coprocessors of manycores SW26010 and Pezy SC-2 used in high-ranked supercomputers in the TOP500 or Green500. The conditions for a coprocessor to be viable in the medium or long-term are defined.