CYBER 200 Applications Seminar

Applications suited for the CYBER 200 digital computer are discussed. Various areas of application including meteorology, algorithms, fluid dynamics, monte carlo methods, petroleum, electronic circuit simulation, biochemistry, lattice gauge theory, economics and ray tracing are discussed

A novel Q-limit guided continuation power flow method for voltage stability analysis

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Voltage security assessment is becoming a more and more important issue due to the fact that electrical power systems are more prone to voltage instability under increased demand, and it can be time-consuming to determine the actual level of voltage security in large power systems. For this reason, this thesis presents a novel method for calculating the margin of voltage collapse that is based on the Continuation Power Flow (CPF) method. The method offers a flexible and reliable solution procedure without suffering from divergence problems even when near the bifurcation point. In addition, the new method accounts for reactive power limits. The algorithmic continuation steps are guided by the prediction of Q-limit breaking point. A Lagrange polynomial interpolation formula is used in this method in order to find the Q-limit breaking point indices that determine when the reactive power output of a generator has reached its limit. The algorithmic continuation steps will then be guided to the closest Q-limit breaking point, consequently reducing the number of continuation steps and saving computational time. The novel method is compared with alternative conventional and enhanced CPF methods. In order to improve CPF further, studies comparing the performance of using direct and iterative solvers in a power flow calculation have also been performed. I first attempt to employ the column approximate minimum degree (AMD) ordering scheme to reset the permutation of the coefficient matrix, which decreases the number of iterations required by iterative solvers. Finally, the novel method has been applied to a range of power system case studies including a 953 bus national grid transmission case study. The results are discussed in detail and compared against exiting CPF methods

Resiliency Mechanisms for In-Memory Column Stores

The key objective of database systems is to reliably manage data, while high query throughput and low query latency are core requirements. To date, database research activities mostly concentrated on the second part. However, due to the constant shrinking of transistor feature sizes, integrated circuits become more and more unreliable and transient hardware errors in the form of multi-bit flips become more and more prominent. In a more recent study (2013), in a large high-performance cluster with around 8500 nodes, a failure rate of 40 FIT per DRAM device was measured. For their system, this means that every 10 hours there occurs a single- or multi-bit flip, which is unacceptably high for enterprise and HPC scenarios. Causes can be cosmic rays, heat, or electrical crosstalk, with the latter being exploited actively through the RowHammer attack. It was shown that memory cells are more prone to bit flips than logic gates and several surveys found multi-bit flip events in main memory modules of today's data centers. Due to the shift towards in-memory data management systems, where all business related data and query intermediate results are kept solely in fast main memory, such systems are in great danger to deliver corrupt results to their users. Hardware techniques can not be scaled to compensate the exponentially increasing error rates. In other domains, there is an increasing interest in software-based solutions to this problem, but these proposed methods come along with huge runtime and/or storage overheads. These are unacceptable for in-memory data management systems. In this thesis, we investigate how to integrate bit flip detection mechanisms into in-memory data management systems. To achieve this goal, we first build an understanding of bit flip detection techniques and select two error codes, AN codes and XOR checksums, suitable to the requirements of in-memory data management systems. The most important requirement is effectiveness of the codes to detect bit flips. We meet this goal through AN codes, which exhibit better and adaptable error detection capabilities than those found in today's hardware. The second most important goal is efficiency in terms of coding latency. We meet this by introducing a fundamental performance improvements to AN codes, and by vectorizing both chosen codes' operations. We integrate bit flip detection mechanisms into the lowest storage layer and the query processing layer in such a way that the remaining data management system and the user can stay oblivious of any error detection. This includes both base columns and pointer-heavy index structures such as the ubiquitous B-Tree. Additionally, our approach allows adaptable, on-the-fly bit flip detection during query processing, with only very little impact on query latency. AN coding allows to recode intermediate results with virtually no performance penalty. We support our claims by providing exhaustive runtime and throughput measurements throughout the whole thesis and with an end-to-end evaluation using the Star Schema Benchmark. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to present such holistic and fast bit flip detection in a large software infrastructure such as in-memory data management systems. Finally, most of the source code fragments used to obtain the results in this thesis are open source and freely available.:1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Contributions of this Thesis 1.2 Outline 2 PROBLEM DESCRIPTION AND RELATED WORK 2.1 Reliable Data Management on Reliable Hardware 2.2 The Shift Towards Unreliable Hardware 2.3 Hardware-Based Mitigation of Bit Flips 2.4 Data Management System Requirements 2.5 Software-Based Techniques For Handling Bit Flips 2.5.1 Operating System-Level Techniques 2.5.2 Compiler-Level Techniques 2.5.3 Application-Level Techniques 2.6 Summary and Conclusions 3 ANALYSIS OF CODING TECHNIQUES 3.1 Selection of Error Codes 3.1.1 Hamming Coding 3.1.2 XOR Checksums 3.1.3 AN Coding 3.1.4 Summary and Conclusions 3.2 Probabilities of Silent Data Corruption 3.2.1 Probabilities of Hamming Codes 3.2.2 Probabilities of XOR Checksums 3.2.3 Probabilities of AN Codes 3.2.4 Concrete Error Models 3.2.5 Summary and Conclusions 3.3 Throughput Considerations 3.3.1 Test Systems Descriptions 3.3.2 Vectorizing Hamming Coding 3.3.3 Vectorizing XOR Checksums 3.3.4 Vectorizing AN Coding 3.3.5 Summary and Conclusions 3.4 Comparison of Error Codes 3.4.1 Effectiveness 3.4.2 Efficiency 3.4.3 Runtime Adaptability 3.5 Performance Optimizations for AN Coding 3.5.1 The Modular Multiplicative Inverse 3.5.2 Faster Softening 3.5.3 Faster Error Detection 3.5.4 Comparison to Original AN Coding 3.5.5 The Multiplicative Inverse Anomaly 3.6 Summary 4 BIT FLIP DETECTING STORAGE 4.1 Column Store Architecture 4.1.1 Logical Data Types 4.1.2 Storage Model 4.1.3 Data Representation 4.1.4 Data Layout 4.1.5 Tree Index Structures 4.1.6 Summary 4.2 Hardened Data Storage 4.2.1 Hardened Physical Data Types 4.2.2 Hardened Lightweight Compression 4.2.3 Hardened Data Layout 4.2.4 UDI Operations 4.2.5 Summary and Conclusions 4.3 Hardened Tree Index Structures 4.3.1 B-Tree Verification Techniques 4.3.2 Justification For Further Techniques 4.3.3 The Error Detecting B-Tree 4.4 Summary 5 BIT FLIP DETECTING QUERY PROCESSING 5.1 Column Store Query Processing 5.2 Bit Flip Detection Opportunities 5.2.1 Early Onetime Detection 5.2.2 Late Onetime Detection 5.2.3 Continuous Detection 5.2.4 Miscellaneous Processing Aspects 5.2.5 Summary and Conclusions 5.3 Hardened Intermediate Results 5.3.1 Materialization of Hardened Intermediates 5.3.2 Hardened Bitmaps 5.4 Summary 6 END-TO-END EVALUATION 6.1 Prototype Implementation 6.1.1 AHEAD Architecture 6.1.2 Diversity of Physical Operators 6.1.3 One Concrete Operator Realization 6.1.4 Summary and Conclusions 6.2 Performance of Individual Operators 6.2.1 Selection on One Predicate 6.2.2 Selection on Two Predicates 6.2.3 Join Operators 6.2.4 Grouping and Aggregation 6.2.5 Delta Operator 6.2.6 Summary and Conclusions 6.3 Star Schema Benchmark Queries 6.3.1 Query Runtimes 6.3.2 Improvements Through Vectorization 6.3.3 Storage Overhead 6.3.4 Summary and Conclusions 6.4 Error Detecting B-Tree 6.4.1 Single Key Lookup 6.4.2 Key Value-Pair Insertion 6.5 Summary 7 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 7.1 Future Work A APPENDIX A.1 List of Golden As A.2 More on Hamming Coding A.2.1 Code examples A.2.2 Vectorization BIBLIOGRAPHY LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF LISTINGS LIST OF ACRONYMS LIST OF SYMBOLS LIST OF DEFINITION

A novel Q-limit guided continuation power flow method for voltage stability analysis

Voltage security assessment is becoming a more and more important issue due to the fact that electrical power systems are more prone to voltage instability under increased demand, and it can be time-consuming to determine the actual level of voltage security in large power systems. For this reason, this thesis presents a novel method for calculating the margin of voltage collapse that is based on the Continuation Power Flow (CPF) method. The method offers a flexible and reliable solution procedure without suffering from divergence problems even when near the bifurcation point. In addition, the new method accounts for reactive power limits. The algorithmic continuation steps are guided by the prediction of Q-limit breaking point. A Lagrange polynomial interpolation formula is used in this method in order to find the Q-limit breaking point indices that determine when the reactive power output of a generator has reached its limit. The algorithmic continuation steps will then be guided to the closest Q-limit breaking point, consequently reducing the number of continuation steps and saving computational time. The novel method is compared with alternative conventional and enhanced CPF methods. In order to improve CPF further, studies comparing the performance of using direct and iterative solvers in a power flow calculation have also been performed. I first attempt to employ the column approximate minimum degree (AMD) ordering scheme to reset the permutation of the coefficient matrix, which decreases the number of iterations required by iterative solvers. Finally, the novel method has been applied to a range of power system case studies including a 953 bus national grid transmission case study. The results are discussed in detail and compared against exiting CPF methods.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Future Computer Requirements for Computational Aerodynamics

Recent advances in computational aerodynamics are discussed as well as motivations for and potential benefits of a National Aerodynamic Simulation Facility having the capability to solve fluid dynamic equations at speeds two to three orders of magnitude faster than presently possible with general computers. Two contracted efforts to define processor architectures for such a facility are summarized

Optimization and validation of discontinuous Galerkin Code for the 3D Navier-Stokes equations

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2011.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 165-170).From residual and Jacobian assembly to the linear solve, the components of a high-order, Discontinuous Galerkin Finite Element Method (DGFEM) for the Navier-Stokes equations in 3D are presented. Emphasis is given to residual and Jacobian assembly, since these are rarely discussed in the literature; in particular, this thesis focuses on code optimization. Performance properties of DG methods are identified, including key memory bottlenecks. A detailed overview of the memory hierarchy on modern CPUs is given along with discussion on optimization suggestions for utilizing the hierarchy efficiently. Other programming suggestions are also given, including the process for rewriting residual and Jacobian assembly using matrix-matrix products. Finally, a validation of the performance of the 3D, viscous DG solver is presented through a series of canonical test cases.by Eric Hung-Lin Liu.S.M

Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Conference on Aerospace Computational Control, volume 1

Conference topics included definition of tool requirements, advanced multibody component representation descriptions, model reduction, parallel computation, real time simulation, control design and analysis software, user interface issues, testing and verification, and applications to spacecraft, robotics, and aircraft

Generalized averaged Gaussian quadrature and applications

A simple numerical method for constructing the optimal generalized averaged Gaussian quadrature formulas will be presented. These formulas exist in many cases in which real positive GaussKronrod formulas do not exist, and can be used as an adequate alternative in order to estimate the error of a Gaussian rule. We also investigate the conditions under which the optimal averaged Gaussian quadrature formulas and their truncated variants are internal