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At least 199 records · Page 11

An implicit barotropic mode solver for MPAS-ocean using a modern Fortran solver interface

Here, we demonstrate use of a modern Fortran solver interface to manage solver algorithms for an implicit barotropic mode solver in the Model for Predictions Across Scales-Ocean (MPAS-O). ForTrilinos, a Fortran interface to Trilinos that contains a large collection of solver capabilities written in C++, has been implemented in MPAS-O to provide access to a suite of linear solver options. By virtue of the simplified wrapper and interface generator (SWIG) automation tool that generates modern Fortran interfaces to C++ code, we were able to implement the Fortran solver interface in MPAS-O using a familiar Fortran coding style while minimizing performance degradation. The ForTrilinos solver interface is written within MPAS-O’s time stepping modules as a subroutine in conjunction with MPAS-O code. Applied to an idealized ocean and a high-resolution realistic ocean test case, parallel performance of ForTrilinos solvers is examined. It is found that parallel scalability of the ForTrilinos solvers is highly dependent on the number of global synchronization points per solver iteration in each iterative solver algorithm. ForTrilinos solvers perform best compared to the Fortran hand-crafted (FHC) solver when the amount of work per processor is large enough. However, parallel scalability is better with the FHC solver and so when the work per core is modest FHC outperforms ForTrilinos. The intercomparison between the ForTrilinos and FHC solvers reveals that this performance hit in the ForTrilinos solver mostly comes from the global synchronization process, while suggesting that the matrix-vector multiplication process in the FHC solver needs to be optimized for better performance.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A New Capability of E4D For 3D Parallel Joint Inversion of DC Resistivity And Traveltime Data on Unstructured Mesh

A major challenge in interpreting geophysical data is how to derive consistent three-dimensional (3D) earth models of different physical properties from spatially and temporally limited measurements. Joint inversion with cross-gradient constraints is an approach to find such models by imposing structural similarities between different physical parameters. We have developed a parallel distributed-memory joint inversion code for direct-current (DC) resistivity and traveltime data using the cross-gradient constraint on unstructured mesh. The code utilizes existing E4D framework for parallel forward simulation, distributed storage and computation of the Jacobian matrix of forward operator, and parallel execution of matrix-vector multiplication during inversion. Besides, the joint inversion is solved by nonlinear conjugate gradient algorithm parallelized for DC resistivity and traveltime data. The joint inversion capability of E4D was tested using synthetic data from cross-borehole DC resistivity and traveltime data. The results indicate that the shape and size of the anomalies from the joint inversion are more reliable than those from separate inversions.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Understanding HPC Benchmark Performance on Intel Broadwell and Cascade Lake Processors

Hardware platforms in high performance computing are constantly getting more complex to handle even when considering multicore CPUs alone. Numerous features and configuration options in the hardware and the software environment that are relevant for performance are not even known to most application users or developers. Microbenchmarks, i.e., simple codes that fathom a particular aspect of the hardware, can help to shed light on such issues, but only if they are well understood and if the results can be reconciled with known facts or performance models. The insight gained from microbenchmarks may then be applied to real applications for performance analysis or optimization. In this paper we investigate two modern Intel x86 server CPU architectures in depth: Broadwell EP and Cascade Lake SP. We highlight relevant hardware configuration settings that can have a decisive impact on code performance and show how to properly measure on-chip and off-chip data transfer bandwidths. The new victim L3 cache of Cascade Lake and its advanced replacement policy receive due attention. Finally we use DGEMM, sparse matrix-vector multiplication, and the HPCG benchmark to make a connection to relevant application scenarios.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

CrossSim Inference Manual v2.0

Neural networks are largely based on matrix computations. During forward inference, the most heavily used compute kernel is the matrix-vector multiplication (MVM): $W \vec{x} $. Inference is a first frontier for the deployment of next-generation hardware for neural network applications, as it is more readily deployed in edge devices, such as mobile devices or embedded processors with size, weight, and power constraints. Inference is also easier to implement in analog systems than training, which has more stringent device requirements. The main processing kernel used during inference is the MVM.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Analog Systems for Edge Optimization

Over the past decade, analog computing has the subject of substantial research interest providing a path toward improved computational efficiency in the post-Dennard era. Analog matrix vector multiplication (MVM) accelerators provide a popular approach given the ubiquity of MVM operations in numerous applications. However, historically analog computing systems can struggle with applications requiring high precision due to the inherent susceptibility of these systems to analog non-idealities. Therefore, prior work on analog systems has focused either on applications known to be tolerant of limited precision (e.g., neural network inference), or using expensive techniques to emulate high-precision using many analog MVM operations. In this work, we propose an alternative approach. Motivated by recent advances in inexact nonlinear solvers and optimizers, we explore the potential of co-designing optimization algorithms which can take full advantage of the fundamentally inexact analog MVM operations. To enable these co-designed algorithms we also develop a general mathematical theory of the precision and energy efficiency of analog operations, and a new system architecture for tightly-coupled analog and digital computation. Finally, we examine the applicability of analog computing to a wider class of symmetric positive definite systems and find potential in using analog operations as a sparse approximate inverse preconditioner. With these core innovations, this project provides a path toward effectively implementing optimization algorithms on power-constrained autonomous and semi-autonomous systems.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

An improved thermionic power conversion system for space propulsion

A concept of an out-of-core thermionic nuclear electric power conversion system for 400 Kwe power level is being investigated for space propulsion applications. Two key features distinguish the power system design from previous thermionic power conversion concepts. First, the thermionic converters are located outside a nuclear reactor with a neutron shield inserted to reduce the radiation level on the thermionic converter matrix. Second, multiple liquid-metal heat pipes are used exclusively for both thermal power transport (from the nuclear reactor to the thermionic converters) and waste heat removal (from the thermionic converters to the space radiator); no mechanical or electromagnetic pumps are involved. The system characteristics are are compared to those of the in-core thermionic reactor system concept. In many aspects, the system characteristics, including specific weight, lifetime, dynamics control and safety features are found to be more desirable than those of the in-core system concept.

Hsieh, T. M.↗

A generalized procedure for constructing an upwind based TVD scheme

A generalized formulation for constructing second- and higher-order accurate TVD (total variation diminishing) schemes is presented. A given scheme is made TVD by limiting antidiffusive flux differences with some linear functions, so-called limiters. The general idea of the formulation and its mathematical proof of Harten's TVD conditions is shown by applying the Lax-Wendroff method to scalar nonlinear equations and a constant-coefficient system of conservation laws. For the system of equations, several definitions are derived for the argument used in the limiter function and present their performance in numerical experiments. The formulation is extended to the nonlinear system. It is demonstrated that the present procedure can easily convert existing central or upwind, and second- or higher-order differencing schemes to preserve monotonicity and yield physically admissible solutions. The formulation is simple mathematically as well as numerically; both matrix-vector multiplication and Riemann solver are avoided. Although the notion of TVD is based on the initial value problem, application to the steady Euler equations of the formulation is also made.

Liou, Meng-Sing↗

A generalized procedure for constructing an upwind-based TVD scheme

A generalized formulation for constructing second- and higher-order accurate TVD (total variation diminishing) schemes is presented. A given scheme is made TVD by limiting antidiffusive flux differences with some nonlinear functions, so-called limiters. The general idea of the formulation and its mathematical proof of Harten's TVD conditions is shown by applying the Lax-Wendroff method to a scalar nonlinear equation and constant-coefficient system of conservation laws. For the system of equations, several definitions are derived for the argument used in the limiter function and present their performance to numerical experiments. Then the formulation is formally extended to the nonlinear system of equations. It is demonstrated that use of the present procedure allows easy conversion of existing central or upwind, and second- or higher-order differencing schemes so as to preserve monotonicity and to yield physically admissible solutions. The formulation is simple mathematically as well as numerically; neither matrix-vector multiplication nor Riemann solver is required. Roughly twice as much computational effort is needed as compared to conventional scheme. Although the notion of TVD is based on the initial value problem, application to the steady Euler equations of the formulation is also made. Numerical examples including various ranges of problems show both time- and spatial-accuracy in comparison with exact solutions.

Liou, Meng-Sing↗

Solving large sparse eigenvalue problems on supercomputers

An important problem in scientific computing consists in finding a few eigenvalues and corresponding eigenvectors of a very large and sparse matrix. The most popular methods to solve these problems are based on projection techniques on appropriate subspaces. The main attraction of these methods is that they only require the use of the matrix in the form of matrix by vector multiplications. The implementations on supercomputers of two such methods for symmetric matrices, namely Lanczos' method and Davidson's method are compared. Since one of the most important operations in these two methods is the multiplication of vectors by the sparse matrix, methods of performing this operation efficiently are discussed. The advantages and the disadvantages of each method are compared and implementation aspects are discussed. Numerical experiments on a one processor CRAY 2 and CRAY X-MP are reported. Possible parallel implementations are also discussed.

Philippe, Bernard↗

General linear codes for fault-tolerant matrix operations on processor arrays

Various checksum codes have been suggested for fault-tolerant matrix computations on processor arrays. Use of these codes is limited due to potential roundoff and overflow errors. Numerical errors may also be misconstrued as errors due to physical faults in the system. In this a set of linear codes is identified which can be used for fault-tolerant matrix operations such as matrix addition, multiplication, transposition, and LU-decomposition, with minimum numerical error. Encoding schemes are given for some of the example codes which fall under the general set of codes. With the help of experiments, a rule of thumb for the selection of a particular code for a given application is derived.

Nair, V. S. S.↗

Satellite range delay simulator for a matrix-switched time division multiple-access network simulator

The Systems Integration, Test, and Evaluation (SITE) facility at NASA Lewis Research Center is presently configured as a satellite-switched time division multiple access (SS-TDMA) network simulator. The purpose of SITE is to demonstrate and evaluate advanced communication satellite technologies, presently embodied by POC components developed under NASA contracts in addition to other hardware, such as ground terminals, designed and built in-house at NASA Lewis. Each ground terminal in a satellite communications system will experience a different aspect of the satellite's motion due mainly to daily tidal effects and station keeping, hence a different duration and rate of variation in the range delay. As a result of this and other effects such as local oscillator instability, each ground terminal must constantly adjust its transmit burst timing so that data bursts from separate ground terminals arrive at the satellite in their assigned time slots, preventing overlap and keeping the system in synchronism. On the receiving end, ground terminals must synchronize their local clocks using reference transmissions received through the satellite link. A feature of the SITE facility is its capability to simulate the varying propagation delays and associated Doppler frequency shifts that the ground terminals in the network have to cope with. Delay is achieved by means of two NASA Lewis designed and built range delay simulator (RDS) systems, each independently controlled locally with front panel switches or remotely by an experiment control and monitor (EC/M) computer.

Nagy, Lawrence A.↗

Satellite range delay simulator for a matrix-switched time division multiple-access network simulation system

The Systems Integration, Test, and Evaluation (SITE) facility at NASA Lewis Research Center is presently configured as a satellite-switched time division multiple access (SS-TDMA) network simulator. The purpose of SITE is to demonstrate and evaluate advanced communication satellite technologies, presently embodied by POC components developed under NASA contracts in addition to other hardware, such as ground terminals, designed and built in-house at NASA Lewis. Each ground terminal in a satellite communications system will experience a different aspect of the satellite's motion due mainly to daily tidal effects and station keeping, hence a different duration and rate of variation in the range delay. As a result of this and other effects such as local oscillator instability, each ground terminal must constantly adjust its transmit burst timing so that data bursts from separate ground terminals arrive at the satellite in their assigned time slots, preventing overlap and keeping the system in synchronism. On the receiving end, ground terminals must synchronize their local clocks using reference transmissions received through the satellite link. A feature of the SITE facility is its capability to simulate the varying propagation delays and associated Doppler frequency shifts that the ground terminals in the network have to cope with. Delay is ahcieved by means of two NASA Lewis designed and built range delay simulator (RDS) systems, each independently controlled locally with front panel switches or remotely by an experiment control and monitor (EC/M) computer.

Nagy, Lawrence A.↗

Real-number codes for fault-tolerant matrix operations on processor arrays

A generalization of existing real number codes is proposed. It is proven that linearity is a necessary and sufficient condition for codes used for fault-tolerant matrix operations such as matrix addition, multiplication, transposition, and LU decomposition. It is also proven that for every linear code defined over a finite field, there exists a corresponding linear real-number code with similar error detecting capabilities. Encoding schemes are given for some of the example codes which fall under the general set of real-number codes. With the help of experiments, a rule is derived for the selection of a particular code for a given application. The performance overhead of fault tolerance schemes using the generalized encoding schemes is shown to be very low, and this is substantiated through simulation experiments.

Nair, V. S. S.↗

Effects of error sources on the parallelism of an optical matrix-vector processor

The error sources in a high accuracy optical matrix-vector processor are analyzed by numerical simulation in terms of their effects on the parallelism and speed of the processor. These effects are detailed for radices -2, -4 and -8. Radix -4 is shown to provide maximum parallel processing capabilities under the effects of the system's error sources. Processing speed is shown to be a function of matrix partitioning and the number of parallel processing channels. Consequently, radix -4 operation provides a higher processing speed than radix -2 and -8 for most matrix-vector multiplications when error source effects are considered.

Perlee, Caroline J.↗

Lanczos eigensolution method for high-performance computers

The theory, computational analysis, and applications are presented of a Lanczos algorithm on high performance computers. The computationally intensive steps of the algorithm are identified as: the matrix factorization, the forward/backward equation solution, and the matrix vector multiples. These computational steps are optimized to exploit the vector and parallel capabilities of high performance computers. The savings in computational time from applying optimization techniques such as: variable band and sparse data storage and access, loop unrolling, use of local memory, and compiler directives are presented. Two large scale structural analysis applications are described: the buckling of a composite blade stiffened panel with a cutout, and the vibration analysis of a high speed civil transport. The sequential computational time for the panel problem executed on a CONVEX computer of 181.6 seconds was decreased to 14.1 seconds with the optimized vector algorithm. The best computational time of 23 seconds for the transport problem with 17,000 degs of freedom was on the the Cray-YMP using an average of 3.63 processors.

Bostic, Susan W.↗

Time-domain analysis of planar microstrip devices using a generalized Yee-algorithm based on unstructured grids

The generalized Yee-algorithm is presented for the temporal full-wave analysis of planar microstrip devices. This algorithm has the significant advantage over the traditional Yee-algorithm in that it is based on unstructured and irregular grids. The robustness of the generalized Yee-algorithm is that structures that contain curved conductors or complex three-dimensional geometries can be more accurately, and much more conveniently modeled using standard automatic grid generation techniques. This generalized Yee-algorithm is based on the the time-marching solution of the discrete form of Maxwell's equations in their integral form. To this end, the electric and magnetic fields are discretized over a dual, irregular, and unstructured grid. The primary grid is assumed to be composed of general fitted polyhedra distributed throughout the volume. The secondary grid (or dual grid) is built up of the closed polyhedra whose edges connect the centroid's of adjacent primary cells, penetrating shared faces. Faraday's law and Ampere's law are used to update the fields normal to the primary and secondary grid faces, respectively. Subsequently, a correction scheme is introduced to project the normal fields onto the grid edges. It is shown that this scheme is stable, maintains second-order accuracy, and preserves the divergenceless nature of the flux densities. Finally, for computational efficiency the algorithm is structured as a series of sparse matrix-vector multiplications. Based on this scheme, the generalized Yee-algorithm has been implemented on vector and parallel high performance computers in a highly efficient manner.

Gedney, Stephen D.↗

CCD/CID Processors Would Offer Greater Precision

Charge-coupled-device/charge-injection-device (CCD/CID) data processors of proposed type offer advantages of massively parallel computational architecture and high computational speed typical of older CCD/CID data processors, but with increased precision. Useful in performing matrix vector multiplications in variety of applications, including solving partial differential equations, processing signal and image data, control computations, and neural-network simulations. Greater precision of proposed devices help to ensure accuracy in CCD/CID implementations of pseudospectral neural networks - particular class of artificial neural networks especially suited to solving nonlinear differential equations.

Barhen, Jacob↗