System Software for the Finite Element MachineNational Aeronautics and Space Administration, Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1985 - Parallel processing (Electronic computers) - 28 pages The Finite Element Machine is an experimental parallel computer developed at Langley Research Center to investigate the application of concurrent processing to structural engineering analysis. This report describes system-level software which has been developed to facilitate use of the machine by applications researchers. The overall software design is outlined, and several important parallel processing issues are discussed in detail, including processor management, communication, synchronization, and input/output. Based on experience using the system, the hardware architecture and software design are critiqued, and areas for further work are suggested. |
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36 processors allocated application programs Array commands broadcast check-in checksum command routine communication paths computation Controller software convergence test CPU board data areas data item debugging described EPROM Exec and PASLIB FACS command FEM system software FFFF FIFO files Finite Element Machine flag network function global bus hardware architecture implemented individual processors input mode input/output interactive interface interprocessor communication INTERRUPT ROUTINE iteration job control language Langley Research Center large number load logical processor number mapping maximum mesh-connected minicomputer needed neighbor receive areas Nodal Exec non-blocking non-queued number of processors operating system output buffer output interrupt overhead parallel algorithms parallel computer parallel programs Pascal PASLIB routines performance post-processing problem processor management processor select provides queue queued receiving processor record length RECV call runtime Section SEND calls SENDALL specify structural engineering analysis subroutines sum/max network SYNC synchronization tag value terminal Texas Instruments timer topology