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At least 91 records · Page 5

A Partitioned - Task Parallel Implementation of the NASA Multiscale Analysis Tool for High Performance Computing

The NASA Multiscale Analysis Tool (NASMAT) is a platform for multiscale modeling of composites which can perform analysis of materials with any arbitrary number of length scales. The platform supports modularity, scalability, and interoperability using recursive procedures and data structures. A Macro solver driven parallelization scheme often limits the capability of NASMAT to scale as it has access to limited memory and number of cores (often one core/thread) and often forces to implement macro solver specific changes to the platform. In this work, a partitioned task-parallel approach is adopted, where the parallelization strategy adopted for NASMAT is independent of the macro solver and the computational resources are managed independently. The programming architecture takes into account the hierarchy of multiple scales (task-dependence) and the heterogeneous nature (dynamic load balancing) of computation through implementation of a hierarchy-informed task parallel model. The partitioned nature of the framework further extends the “plug and play” capability of NASMAT. preCICE, an open-source library for coupling multiphysics solver in a partitioned manner, is adopted to integrate NASMAT with an external macro solver by implementing a NASMAT adapter for preCICE. Speedup and scalability of the framework is studied for micromechanical models of varying size.

task-parallel

Converging-Diverging Nozzle Thruster Code for Nuclear or Chemical Rocket Performance Computations

This report describes development of a variable area ratio C-D nozzle numerical computational code "THRST", applicable to the evaluation of nuclear or chemical rocket performance. The propellant for the nuclear rockets is para-hydrogen with gas properties supplied by a sub-routine, while properties for chemical thrusters need to be user input. Detailed documentation of input and output variables and sample output listings enable the report to function as a "User Manual".

Juhasz, Albert J.

A study of workstation computational performance for real-time flight simulation

With recent advances in microprocessor technology, some have suggested that modern workstations provide enough computational power to properly operate a real-time simulation. This paper presents the results of a computational benchmark, based on actual real-time flight simulation code used at Langley Research Center, which was executed on various workstation-class machines. The benchmark was executed on different machines from several companies including: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Cray Research, Digital Equipment Corporation, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, International Business Machines, Silicon Graphics, and Sun Microsystems. The machines are compared by their execution speed, computational accuracy, and porting effort. The results of this study show that the raw computational power needed for real-time simulation is now offered by workstations.

Maddalon, Jeffrey M.

Measurements over distributed high performance computing and storage systems

Requirements are carefully described in descriptions of systems to be acquired but often there is no requirement to provide measurements and performance monitoring to ensure that requirements are met over the long term after acceptance. A set of measurements for various UNIX-based systems will be available at the 1992 Goddard Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies. The authors invite others to contribute to the set of measurements. The framework for presenting the measurements of supercomputers, workstations, file servers, mass storage systems, and the networks that interconnect them are given. Production control and database systems are also included. Though other applications and third party software systems are not addressed, it is important to measure them as well. The capability to integrate measurements from all these components from different vendors, and from the third party software systems was recognized and there are efforts to standardize a framework to do this. The measurement activity falls into the domain of management standards. Standards work is ongoing for Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) systems management; AT&T, Digital, and Hewlett-Packard are developing management systems based on this architecture even though it is not finished. Another effort is in the UNIX International Performance Management Working Group. In addition, there are the Open Systems Foundation's Distributed Management Environment and the Object Management Group. A paper comparing the OSI systems management model and the Object Management Group model has been written. The IBM world has had a capability for measurement for various IBM systems since the 1970's and different vendors were able to develop tools for analyzing and viewing these measurements. Since IBM was the only vendor, the user groups were able to lobby IBM for the kinds of measurements needed. In the UNIX world of multiple vendors, a common set of measurements will not be as easy to get.

Williams, Elizabeth

RISC Processors and High Performance Computing

This tutorial will discuss the top five RISC microprocessors and the parallel systems in which they are used. It will provide a unique cross-machine comparison not available elsewhere. The effective performance of these processors will be compared by citing standard benchmarks in the context of real applications. The latest NAS Parallel Benchmarks, both absolute performance and performance per dollar, will be listed. The next generation of the NPB will be described. The tutorial will conclude with a discussion of future directions in the field. Technology Transfer Considerations: All of these computer systems are commercially available internationally. Information about these processors is available in the public domain, mostly from the vendors themselves. The NAS Parallel Benchmarks and their results have been previously approved numerous times for public release, beginning back in 1991.

Bailey, David H.

Description of CASCOMP Comprehensive Airship Sizing and Performance Computer Program, Volume 2

The computer program CASCOMP, which may be used in comparative design studies of lighter than air vehicles by rapidly providing airship size and mission performance data, was prepared and documented. The program can be used to define design requirements such as weight breakdown, required propulsive power, and physical dimensions of airships which are designed to meet specified mission requirements. The program is also useful in sensitivity studies involving both design trade-offs and performance trade-offs. The input to the program primarily consists of a series of single point values such as hull overall fineness ratio, number of engines, airship hull and empennage drag coefficients, description of the mission profile, and weights of fixed equipment, fixed useful load and payload. In order to minimize computation time, the program makes ample use of optional computation paths.

Davis, J.

Geometrically nonlinear design sensitivity analysis on parallel-vector high-performance computers

Parallel-vector solution strategies for generation and assembly of element matrices, solution of the resulted system of linear equations, calculations of the unbalanced loads, displacements, stresses, and design sensitivity analysis (DSA) are all incorporated into the Newton Raphson (NR) procedure for nonlinear finite element analysis and DSA. Numerical results are included to show the performance of the proposed method for structural analysis and DSA in a parallel-vector computer environment.

Baddourah, Majdi A.

Compression Techniques for Improved Algorithm Computational Performance

Analysis of thermal data requires the processing of large amounts of temporal image data. The processing of the data for quantitative information can be time intensive especially out in the field where large areas are inspected resulting in numerous data sets. By applying a temporal compression technique, improved algorithm performance can be obtained. In this study, analysis techniques are applied to compressed and non-compressed thermal data. A comparison is made based on computational speed and defect signal to noise.

Zalameda, Joseph N.

I-deas TMG to NX Space Systems Thermal Model Conversion and Computational Performance Comparison

CAD/CAE packages change on a continuous basis as the power of the tools increase to meet demands. End -users must adapt to new products as they come to market and replace legacy packages. CAE modeling has continued to evolve and is constantly becoming more detailed and complex. Though this comes at the cost of increased computing requirements Parallel processing coupled with appropriate hardware can minimize computation time. Users of Maya Thermal Model Generator (TMG) are faced with transitioning from NX I -deas to NX Space Systems Thermal (SST). It is important to understand what differences there are when changing software packages We are looking for consistency in results.

Thermal Model Generator (TMG)

KU-Band rendezvous radar performance computer simulation model

The preparation of a real time computer simulation model of the KU band rendezvous radar to be integrated into the shuttle mission simulator (SMS), the shuttle engineering simulator (SES), and the shuttle avionics integration laboratory (SAIL) simulator is described. To meet crew training requirements a radar tracking performance model, and a target modeling method were developed. The parent simulation/radar simulation interface requirements, and the method selected to model target scattering properties, including an application of this method to the SPAS spacecraft are described. The radar search and acquisition mode performance model and the radar track mode signal processor model are examined and analyzed. The angle, angle rate, range, and range rate tracking loops are also discussed.

Griffin, J. W.

Calculation of installation effects within performance computer programs

Gasturbine engine components as compressors, burners and turbines are usually tested on rigs prior to installation into an engine. In the engine, the component behaviour is different due to a variety of reasons. The installation effects are caused by small geometrical differences due to nonrepresentative rig operating temperatures and pressures, by different gas properties and Reynolds numbers and by radial as well as circumferential temperature and pressure profiles at the inlet to the component. For highly accurate performance predictions these rig-to-engine effects have to be taken into account. Traditionally the term "installation" is also used for describing all the differences in engine operation and behaviour between toothed and aircraft. Intake and afterbody drag, power offtake and bleed as well as intake pressure losses and inlet flow distortion have significant impact on airflow, thrust, specific fuel consumption and compressor stability. Using modem performance synthesis programs all these effects can be simulated reasonably well.

J Kurzke

Client/Server data serving for high performance computing

This paper will attempt to examine the industry requirements for shared network data storage and sustained high speed (10's to 100's to thousands of megabytes per second) network data serving via the NFS and FTP protocol suite. It will discuss the current structural and architectural impediments to achieving these sorts of data rates cost effectively today on many general purpose servers and will describe and architecture and resulting product family that addresses these problems. The sustained performance levels that were achieved in the lab will be shown as well as a discussion of early customer experiences utilizing both the HIPPI-IP and ATM OC3-IP network interfaces.

Wood, Chris

A parallel-vector algorithm for rapid structural analysis on high-performance computers

A fast, accurate Choleski method for the solution of symmetric systems of linear equations is presented. This direct method is based on a variable-band storage scheme and takes advantage of column heights to reduce the number of operations in the Choleski factorization. The method employs parallel computation in the outermost DO-loop and vector computation via the loop unrolling technique in the innermost DO-loop. The method avoids computations with zeros outside the column heights, and as an option, zeros inside the band. The close relationship between Choleski and Gauss elimination methods is examined. The minor changes required to convert the Choleski code to a Gauss code to solve non-positive-definite symmetric systems of equations are identified. The results for two large scale structural analyses performed on supercomputers, demonstrate the accuracy and speed of the method.

Storaasli, Olaf O.

A parallel-vector algorithm for rapid structural analysis on high-performance computers

A fast, accurate Choleski method for the solution of symmetric systems of linear equations is presented. This direct method is based on a variable-band storage scheme and takes advantage of column heights to reduce the number of operations in the Choleski factorization. The method employs parallel computation in the outermost DO-loop and vector computation via the 'loop unrolling' technique in the innermost DO-loop. The method avoids computations with zeros outside the column heights, and as an option, zeros inside the band. The close relationship between Choleski and Gauss elimination methods is examined. The minor changes required to convert the Choleski code to a Gauss code to solve non-positive-definite symmetric systems of equations are identified. The results for two large-scale structural analyses performed on supercomputers, demonstrate the accuracy and speed of the method.

Storaasli, Olaf O.

Measured and computed performance of a microstrip filter composed of semi-insulating GaAs on a fused quartz substrate

The performance of a microstrip hammerhead filter that has been fabricated on an electrically thin layer of semiinsulating GaAs backed by a fused quartz substrate was measured and compared to results of a three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain (FD-TD) program used to calculate the response of the filter both with and without the GaAs layer. The program, presented by Sheen et al. (1990), discretizes the entire structure and then simulates the propagation of a Gaussian pulse through the filter. The microstrip filter is intended for applications involving ultrathin lifted-off or etched-back GaAs containing both active devices and passive microstrip circuitry backed by a much thicker mechanically rigid low-loss, low-dielectric-constant substrate. The low-pass characteristics of the hammerhead filter with the intermediate GaAs layer are compared with those of the same filter on quartz alone. Both the measured and computed data show a significant shift in cutoff frequency (about 10 percent at the 3 dB points) for a GaAs layer that is 0.007 wavelengths thick at 4 GHz.

Siegel, Peter H.

A high level language for a high performance computer

The proposed computational aerodynamic facility will join the ranks of the supercomputers due to its architecture and increased execution speed. At present, the languages used to program these supercomputers have been modifications of programming languages which were designed many years ago for sequential machines. A new programming language should be developed based on the techniques which have proved valuable for sequential programming languages and incorporating the algorithmic techniques required for these supercomputers. The design objectives for such a language are outlined.

Perrott, R. H.