Supercomputers are seen as being at the forefront of computer technology and as ideal tools for researchers in such fields as aerospace, electronics and weaponry. This study for the general, computer-literate audience examines computer architecture, the technologies used in building supercomputers and the constraints and future of their design, dealing with software, numerical methods and performance in terms of practical applications. Further technological possibilities and new hardware are also discussed. Most formulations of problems have been explained and mathematical formulae have been deliberately kept to a minumum. In cases where technical material has had to be included, text has been provided which aims to enable the reader to follow the thread of the argument without needing to understand the technical formulation of the problem under discussion. This revised edition of the text includes two chapters dealing with improvements in supercomputer technology and novel architectures.
Auflage
Sprache
Verlagsort
Verlagsgruppe
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
Für Beruf und Forschung
Editions-Typ
Illustrationen
68 line illustrations, 23 half-tones, bibliography, index
ISBN-13
978-0-19-853759-5 (9780198537595)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Part 1 Introducing supercomputers: significance of supercomputers. Part 2 Organization of building blocks: input/output processor - IOP; central memory; secondary storage - SSD; virtual memory schemes; memory error correction - SECDED; central processor unit - CPU; function units; vector operations; parallel operations; instruction buffers; exchange mechanism - interrupt; input/output section; software influences. Part 3 Supercomputer architecture in the 1970s: the CDC 7600; vector processors; array processors. Part 4 Supercomputer technologies: historical; bipolar devices; MOS devices; Gallium arsenide (GaAs); Josephson junction technology; interconnections; other devices. Part 5 Supercomputers of the 1980s - made in the USA: the Cyber 205 architecture; the Cray X-MP architecture; the Cray-2 architecture; the heterogeneous element processor (HEP) architecture. Part 6 Supercomputers of the 1980s - made in Japan: the HITAC S-810/20; FACOM VP systems from Fujitsu; the NEC SX-2. Part 7 Scientific computation: correctness of answers; numbers - their range and precision. Part 8 Software and scalar optimization: the birth of FORTRAN; programme monitoring tools; programme complexity analysis. Part 9 Vectorization: vector processing; automatic vectorization; conditional vector merge procedures; FORTRAN programme tuning tools. Part 10 Aspects of supercomputer performance: the scalar effect on programme performance; peak vs sustained performance; multiple processors; partially out of memory calculations; MIMD architecture. Part 11 Examples of practical applications: oceanography; National Environmental Research Council; numerical weather prediction; three-dimensional time-dependent geophysical convection; the problem of the stability of the solar system; seismic processing on the Cray; oil reservoir simulation; parallel processing in a plasma simulation problem using the particle-in-cell method; large eddy simulation (LES); the impact of computational methods in aircraft design; feature films from digital productions. Part 12 Future developments: the market-place; technologies; supercomputers in the pipeline; other systems with supercomputer potential. Appendix: - array features in FORTRAN 8x.
