AP/Linux - initial implementation

The AP1000+ is a distributed-memory parallel computer based on SuperSPARC processors, which incorporates message-passing hardware which can be accessed safely from user mode. We are in the process of porting the Linux kernel to this machine and extending it to support execution of parallel programs. This report outlines the motivation and background of this effort, and describes the current status and future directions for the work. The reader may also refer to our WWW page at http://cap.anu.edu.au/cap/projects/linux for up to date information on the progress of the port

An implementation of a general-purpose parallel sorting algorithm

A parallel sorting algorithm is presented for general purpose internal sorting on MIMD machines. The algorithm initially sorts the elements within each node using a serial sorting algorithm, then proceeds with a two phase parallel merge. The algorithm is comparison-based and requires additional storage of order the square root of the number of elements in each node. Performance of the algorithm is examined on two MIMD machines, the Fujitsu AP1000 and the Thinking Machines CM5

Parallel integer sorting

This paper presents algorithms and experiments for internal (in core) and external (secondary memory) parallel sorting. It concentrates on algorithms appropriate for medium scale MIMD parallel computers, with all experiments being performed on a 128 processor Fujitsu AP1000. Data sizes ranging from a few hundred thousand to a few hundred million elements are considered, with all elements being either 64 bit or 128 bit integers. The internal sorting algorithm is based on earlier work by Andrew Tridgell and Richard Brent[11], while the external sorting algorithm was developed for this paper. The paper also takes a quick look at serial sorting algorithms, as they play an important part as subroutines in the parallel sorting algorithms

The rsync algorithm

This report presents an algorithm for updating a file on one machine to be identical to a file on another machine. We assume that the two machines are connected by a low-bandwidth high-latency bi-directional communications link. The algorithm identifies parts of the source file which are identical to some part of the destination file, and only sends those parts which cannot be matched in this way. Effectively, the algorithm computes a set of differences without having both files on the same machine. The algorithm works best when the files are similar, but will also function correctly and reasonably efficiently when the files are quite different