Scientific applications and numerical algorithms on the midas multiprocessor system

The MIDAS multiprocessor system is a multi-level, hierarchial structure designed at the Advanced Computer Architecture Laboratory of the University of California's Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. A two-stage, 11-processor system has been operational for over a year and is currently undergoing expansion. It has been employed to investigate the performance of different methods of decomposing various problems and algorithms into a multiprocessor environment. The results of such tests on a variety of applications such as scientific data analysis, Monte Carlo calculations, and image processing, are discussed. Often such decompositions involve investigating the parallel structure of fundamental algorithms. Several basic algorithms dealing with random number generation, matrix diagonalization, fast Fourier transforms, and finite element methods in solving partial differential equations are also discussed. The performance and projected extensibilities of these decompositions on the MIDAS system are reported