What is another name for parallel processing?

What is another name for parallel processing?

• A. Coprocessing
• B. Serial processing
• C. Distributed processing
• D. Vector processing

Answer: (A)

Parallel processing happens when more than one processing unit works on a task at the same time. A common way this happens is with a co-processor—a second processor dedicated to handling parts of the workload alongside the main CPU. In that setup, both processors run in parallel, sharing the work to speed things up, so coprocessing is another name for parallel processing in many contexts. Serial processing would do tasks one after another, so it’s not parallel. Vector processing uses a SIMD approach to apply the same operation to many data points at once, typically within a single processor as a specific technique, not merely a synonym for parallel processing. Distributed processing involves multiple machines across a network, which is a form of parallelism but differs from the idea of a single co-processor working with the main CPU.

Parallel processing happens when more than one processing unit works on a task at the same time. A common way this happens is with a co-processor—a second processor dedicated to handling parts of the workload alongside the main CPU. In that setup, both processors run in parallel, sharing the work to speed things up, so coprocessing is another name for parallel processing in many contexts.

Serial processing would do tasks one after another, so it’s not parallel. Vector processing uses a SIMD approach to apply the same operation to many data points at once, typically within a single processor as a specific technique, not merely a synonym for parallel processing. Distributed processing involves multiple machines across a network, which is a form of parallelism but differs from the idea of a single co-processor working with the main CPU.