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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 829 records · Page 46
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Cross-fertilization between connectionist networks and highly parallel architectures

The theoretical and practical connections between connectionist schemes such as neural-network computers and traditional symbolic processing architectures involving a high degree of parallelism are explored, reviewing the results of recent investigations. Topics addressed include data flow, data structure, and control flow; conventional pointers; associative addressing; hashing and reduced representations; the problem of binding values to variables; and levels of parallelism. It is concluded that connectionism is more closely related to traditional computer science and technology than is generally admitted; more cooperation between followers of the two approaches is recommended.

Barnden, John↗
NASA NTRS1990

Adaptive domain decomposition for Monte Carlo simulations on parallel processors

A method is described for performing direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) calculations on parallel processors using adaptive domain decomposition to distribute the computational work load. The method has been implemented on a commercially available hypercube and benchmark results are presented which show the performance of the method relative to current supercomputers. The problems studied were simulations of equilibrium conditions in a closed, stationary box, a two-dimensional vortex flow, and the hypersonic, rarefield flow in a two-dimensional channel. For these problems, the parallel DSMC method ran 5 to 13 times faster than on a single processor of a Cray-2. The adaptive decomposition method worked well in uniformly distributing the computational work over an arbitrary number of processors and reduced the average computational time by over a factor of two in certain cases.

Wilmoth, Richard G.↗
NASA NTRS1990

An empirical study of FORTRAN programs for parallelizing compilers

Some results are reported from an empirical study of program characteristics that are important in parallelizing compiler writers, especially in the area of data dependence analysis and program transformations. The state of the art in data dependence analysis and some parallel execution techniques are examined. The major findings are included. Many subscripts contain symbolic terms with unknown values. A few methods of determining their values at compile time are evaluated. Array references with coupled subscripts appear quite frequently; these subscripts must be handled simultaneously in a dependence test, rather than being handled separately as in current test algorithms. Nonzero coefficients of loop indexes in most subscripts are found to be simple: they are either 1 or -1. This allows an exact real-valued test to be as accurate as an exact integer-valued test for one-dimensional or two-dimensional arrays. Dependencies with uncertain distance are found to be rather common, and one of the main reasons is the frequent appearance of symbolic terms with unknown values.

Shen, Zhiyu↗
NASA NTRS1990

Optimal parallel evaluation of AND trees

A quantitative analysis based on both preemptive and nonpreemptive critical-path scheduling algorithms is presently conducted for the optimal degree of parallelism required in evaluating a given AND tree. The optimal degree of parallelism is found to depend on problem complexity, precedence-graph shape, and task-time distribution along each path. In addition to demonstrating the optimality of the preemptive critical-path scheduling algorithm for evaluating an arbitrary AND tree on a fixed number of processors, the possibility of efficiently ascertaining tight bounds on the number of processors for optimal processor-time efficiency is illustrated.

Wah, Benjamin W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Fast Parallel Computation Of Manipulator Inverse Dynamics

Method for fast parallel computation of inverse dynamics problem, essential for real-time dynamic control and simulation of robot manipulators, undergoing development. Enables exploitation of high degree of parallelism and, achievement of significant computational efficiency, while minimizing various communication and synchronization overheads as well as complexity of required computer architecture. Universal real-time robotic controller and simulator (URRCS) consists of internal host processor and several SIMD processors with ring topology. Architecture modular and expandable: more SIMD processors added to match size of problem. Operate asynchronously and in MIMD fashion.

Fijany, Amir↗
NASA NTRS1990

Dynamic Analysis and Control of Lightweight Manipulators with Flexible Parallel Link Mechanisms

The objective is the theoretical analysis and the experimental verification of dynamics and control of a two link flexible manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism. Nonlinear equations of motion of the lightweight manipulator are derived by the Lagrangian method in symbolic form to better understand the structure of the dynamic model. The resulting equation of motion have a structure which is useful to reduce the number of terms calculated, to check correctness, or to extend the model to higher order. A manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism is a constrained dynamic system whose equations are sensitive to numerical integration error. This constrained system is solved using singular value decomposition of the constraint Jacobian matrix. Elastic motion is expressed by the assumed mode method. Mode shape functions of each link are chosen using the load interfaced component mode synthesis. The discrepancies between the analytical model and the experiment are explained using a simplified and a detailed finite element model.

Lee, Jeh Won↗
NASA NTRS1990

Inflated speedups in parallel simulations via malloc()

Discrete-event simulation programs make heavy use of dynamic memory allocation in order to support simulation's very dynamic space requirements. When programming in C one is likely to use the malloc() routine. However, a parallel simulation which uses the standard Unix System V malloc() implementation may achieve an overly optimistic speedup, possibly superlinear. An alternate implementation provided on some (but not all systems) can avoid the speedup anomaly, but at the price of significantly reduced available free space. This is especially severe on most parallel architectures, which tend not to support virtual memory. It is shown how a simply implemented user-constructed interface to malloc() can both avoid artificially inflated speedups, and make efficient use of the dynamic memory space. The interface simply catches blocks on the basis of their size. The problem is demonstrated empirically, and the effectiveness of the solution is shown both empirically and analytically.

Nicol, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The FORCE: A highly portable parallel programming language

Here, it is explained why the FORCE parallel programming language is easily portable among six different shared-memory microprocessors, and how a two-level macro preprocessor makes it possible to hide low level machine dependencies and to build machine-independent high level constructs on top of them. These FORCE constructs make it possible to write portable parallel programs largely independent of the number of processes and the specific shared memory multiprocessor executing them.

Jordan, Harry F.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Serial and parallel computation of Kane's equations for multibody dynamics

The analysis of the efficiency of algorithms resulting from Kane's Equation for serial and parallel computation of mass matrix is examined. The algorithms resulting from Kane's equation and Modified Kane's equations are detailed. An analysis was made of two classes of algorithms for computation of mass matrix: the Newton-Euler based algorithms and the Composite rigid body algorithms. An analysis was also made of the efficiency of different algorithms for serial and parallel computations. Conclusions are drawn and presented.

Fijany, Amir↗
NASA NTRS1991

Parallel computing using a Lagrangian formulation

A new Lagrangian formulation of the Euler equation is adopted for the calculation of 2-D supersonic steady flow. The Lagrangian formulation represents the inherent parallelism of the flow field better than the common Eulerian formulation and offers a competitive alternative on parallel computers. The implementation of the Lagrangian formulation on the Thinking Machines Corporation CM-2 Computer is described. The program uses a finite volume, first-order Godunov scheme and exhibits high accuracy in dealing with multidimensional discontinuities (slip-line and shock). By using this formulation, a better than six times speed-up was achieved on a 8192-processor CM-2 over a single processor of a CRAY-2.

Liou, May-Fun↗
NASA NTRS1991

A survey of parallel programming tools

This survey examines 39 parallel programming tools. Focus is placed on those tool capabilites needed for parallel scientific programming rather than for general computer science. The tools are classified with current and future needs of Numerical Aerodynamic Simulator (NAS) in mind: existing and anticipated NAS supercomputers and workstations; operating systems; programming languages; and applications. They are divided into four categories: suggested acquisitions, tools already brought in; tools worth tracking; and tools eliminated from further consideration at this time.

Cheng, Doreen Y.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Probabilistic structural mechanics research for parallel processing computers

Aerospace structures and spacecraft are a complex assemblage of structural components that are subjected to a variety of complex, cyclic, and transient loading conditions. Significant modeling uncertainties are present in these structures, in addition to the inherent randomness of material properties and loads. To properly account for these uncertainties in evaluating and assessing the reliability of these components and structures, probabilistic structural mechanics (PSM) procedures must be used. Much research has focused on basic theory development and the development of approximate analytic solution methods in random vibrations and structural reliability. Practical application of PSM methods was hampered by their computationally intense nature. Solution of PSM problems requires repeated analyses of structures that are often large, and exhibit nonlinear and/or dynamic response behavior. These methods are all inherently parallel and ideally suited to implementation on parallel processing computers. New hardware architectures and innovative control software and solution methodologies are needed to make solution of large scale PSM problems practical.

Sues, Robert H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Rectilinear partitioning of irregular data parallel computations

New mapping algorithms for domain oriented data-parallel computations, where the workload is distributed irregularly throughout the domain, but exhibits localized communication patterns are described. Researchers consider the problem of partitioning the domain for parallel processing in such a way that the workload on the most heavily loaded processor is minimized, subject to the constraint that the partition be perfectly rectilinear. Rectilinear partitions are useful on architectures that have a fast local mesh network. Discussed here is an improved algorithm for finding the optimal partitioning in one dimension, new algorithms for partitioning in two dimensions, and optimal partitioning in three dimensions. The application of these algorithms to real problems are discussed.

Nicol, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Comparisons of elastic and rigid blade-element rotor models using parallel processing technology for piloted simulations

A piloted comparison of rigid and aeroelastic blade-element rotor models was conducted at the Crew Station Research and Development Facility (CSRDF) at Ames Research Center. A simulation development and analysis tool, FLIGHTLAB, was used to implement these models in real time using parallel processing technology. Pilot comments and quantitative analysis performed both on-line and off-line confirmed that elastic degrees of freedom significantly affect perceived handling qualities. Trim comparisons show improved correlation with flight test data when elastic modes are modeled. The results demonstrate the efficiency with which the mathematical modeling sophistication of existing simulation facilities can be upgraded using parallel processing, and the importance of these upgrades to simulation fidelity.

Hill, Gary↗
NASA NTRS1991

A biconjugate gradient type algorithm on massively parallel architectures

The biconjugate gradient (BCG) method is the natural generalization of the classical conjugate gradient algorithm for Hermitian positive definite matrices to general non-Hermitian linear systems. Unfortunately, the original BCG algorithm is susceptible to possible breakdowns and numerical instabilities. Recently, Freund and Nachtigal have proposed a novel BCG type approach, the quasi-minimal residual method (QMR), which overcomes the problems of BCG. Here, an implementation is presented of QMR based on an s-step version of the nonsymmetric look-ahead Lanczos algorithm. The main feature of the s-step Lanczos algorithm is that, in general, all inner products, except for one, can be computed in parallel at the end of each block; this is unlike the other standard Lanczos process where inner products are generated sequentially. The resulting implementation of QMR is particularly attractive on massively parallel SIMD architectures, such as the Connection Machine.

Freund, Roland W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Parallel pseudospectral domain decomposition techniques

The influence of interface boundary conditions on the ability to parallelize pseudospectral multidomain algorithms is investigated. Using the properties of spectral expansions, a novel parallel two domain procedure is generalized to an arbitrary number of domains each of which can be solved on a separate processor. This interface boundary condition considerably simplifies influence matrix techniques.

Gottlieb, David↗
NASA NTRS1990

Re-forming supercritical quasi-parallel shocks. I - One- and two-dimensional simulations

The process of reforming supercritical quasi-parallel shocks is investigated using one-dimensional and two-dimensional hybrid (particle ion, massless fluid electron) simulations both of shocks and of simpler two-stream interactions. It is found that the supercritical quasi-parallel shock is not steady. Instread of a well-defined shock ramp between upstream and downstream states that remains at a fixed position in the flow, the ramp periodically steepens, broadens, and then reforms upstream of its former position. It is concluded that the wave generation process is localized at the shock ramp and that the reformation process proceeds in the absence of upstream perturbations intersecting the shock.

Thomas, V. A.↗