A bibliography on parallel and vector numerical algorithms

This is a bibliography of numerical methods. It also includes a number of other references on machine architecture, programming language, and other topics of interest to scientific computing. Certain conference proceedings and anthologies which have been published in book form are listed also

Software engineering: inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes University

Inaugural lecture delivered at Rhodes UniversityRhodes University Libraries (Digitisation

Solution of partial differential equations on vector and parallel computers

The present status of numerical methods for partial differential equations on vector and parallel computers was reviewed. The relevant aspects of these computers are discussed and a brief review of their development is included, with particular attention paid to those characteristics that influence algorithm selection. Both direct and iterative methods are given for elliptic equations as well as explicit and implicit methods for initial boundary value problems. The intent is to point out attractive methods as well as areas where this class of computer architecture cannot be fully utilized because of either hardware restrictions or the lack of adequate algorithms. Application areas utilizing these computers are briefly discussed

Tree Machines: Architectures and Algorithms A Survey Paper

Recent advances in very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuit technology have lead to a surge in research aimed at finding new computer organizations that support a great deal of concurrency computer organizations based on tree structures appear well-suited to several kinds of parallel computations. In this paper we will discuss the performance of tree machines as well as Issues related to their implementation in VLSI. Examples of tree machines are presented, with an emphasis on the way the processing elements communicate in the machine. A taxonomy of tree algorithms based on a taxonomy of parallel algorithms proposed by Kung in 1979 is Introduced. Examples of tree algorithms are also given

An investigation to study the feasibility of on-line bibliographic information retrieval system using an APP

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University.This thesis reports an investigation on the feasibility study of a searching mechanism using an APP suitable for an on-line bibliographic retrieval, operation, especially for retrospective searches. From the study of the searching methods used in the conventional systems it is seen that elaborate file- and data- structures are introduced to improve the response time of the system. These consequently lead to software and hardware redundancies. To mask these complexities of the system an expensive computer with higher capabilities and more powerful instruction set is commonly used. Thus the service of the systen becomes cost-ineffective. On the other hand the primitive operations of a searching mechanism, such as, association, domain selection, intersection and unions, are the intrinsic features of an associative parallel processor. Therefore it is important to establish the feasibility of an APP as a cost-effective searching mechanise. In this thesis a searching mechanism using an 'ON-THE-FLY' searching technique has been proposed. The parallel search unit uses a Byte-oriented VRL-APP for efficient character string processing. At the time of undertaking this work the specification for neither the retrieval systems nor the BO-VRL APP's were well established; hence a two-phase investigation was originated. In the Phase I of the work a bottom up approach was adopted to derive a formal and precise specification for the BO-VRL-APP. During the Phase II of the work a top-down approach was opted for the implementation of the searching mechanism. An experimental research vehicle has been developed to establish the feasibility of an APP as a cost-effective searching mechanism. Although rigorous proof of the feasibility has not been obtained, the thesis establishes that the APP is well suited for on-line bibligraphic information retrieval operations where substring searches including boolean selection and threshold weights are efficiently supported

The distributed computer system

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University

Comparative methods of computing maximum likelihood estimates for non-linear econometric systems

This research is mainly concerned with numerical optimisation techniques applied to general non-linear econometric simultaneous equations systems. The method of estimation used is maximum likelihood. An estimation program which applies gradient-type procedures, specifically the Berndt-Hall-Hall-Hausman and Gill-Murray' Pitfield methods, is developed. This program allows the estimation of a general small-to-medium size model which is non-linear in parameters, variables or both. In the course of program development, a general differentiation program is written which will differentiate a set of econometric equations and thus provide the analytical gradients for the optimisation procedures. A comparative study has been made of the relative efficiency of the two methods by running a set of simulated non-linear models and also using a small macro- economic model of the British Economy specified by David F. Hendry. To improve the efficiency of the estimation program in terms of computing time, the Berndt-Hall-Hall-Hausman method was implemented on the ICL Distributed Array Processor (DAP)’ which employs parallel computations. The DAP runs show that for a model with a large sample size, the DAP is approximately 30 times faster than the conventional computer CDC 7600, but that for the present algorithm, the latter is a more efficient alternative for small sample sizes