We have introduced the driving requirements of
nanoscale technology to favor a computer
architecture class that emphasizes locality of action,
very high parallelism, automatic latency hiding,
lightweight synchronization mechanisms, and fully
distributed asynchronous control. In this section, an
overview is provided of the radically new concept,
Continuum Computer Architecture that is invented
for the purpose of exploiting nanoscale technologies
of the future. While this brief description is at a high
level rather than comprehensive in all details, the
basic opportunity and technical strategy of the CCA
model is presented to sufficient degree to establish it
as a new class of computer architecture.