Hypercube solutions for conjugate directions.

Abstract

As computing machines advance, new fields are explored and old ones are expanded. This thesis considers parallel solutions to several well-known problems from numerical linear algebra, including Gauss Factorization and the method of Conjugate Gradients. The Gauss algorithm was implemented on two parallel machines: an Intel iPSC/2, and a network of INMOST-800 transputers. Interprocessor communication-in both cases-was borne by a hypercube interconnection topology. The results reveal general findings from parallel computing and more specific data and information concerning the systems and algorithms that were employed. Communication is timed and the results are analyzed, showing typical features of a message passing system. System performance is illustrated by results from the Gauss codes. The use of two different pivoting strategies shows the potential and the limitations of a parallel machine. The iPSC/2 and transputer systems both show excellent parallel performance when solving large, dense, unstructured systems. Differences, advantages, and disadvantages of these two systems are examined and expectations for current and future machines are discussed