Programming Environment for a High-Performance Parallel Supercomputer with Intelligent Communication

Issue title: Parallel Computing Projects of the Swiss Priority Programme

Article type: Research Article

Authors: GUNZINGER, A. | BÄUMLE, B. | FREY, M. | KLEBL, M. | KOCHEISEN, M. | KOHLER, P. | MOREL, R. | MÜLLER, U. | ROSENTHAL, M.

Affiliations: Electronics Laboratory, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), 8092 Zurich, Switzerland; e-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: At the Electronics Laboratory of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, the high-performance parallel supercomputer MUSIC (MUlti processor System with Intelligent Communication) has been developed. As applications like neural network simulation and molecular dynamics show, the Electronics Laboratory supercomputer is absolutely on par with those of conventional supercomputers, but electric power requirements are reduced by a factor of 1,000, weight is reduced by a factor of 400, and price is reduced by a factor of 100. Software development is a key issue of such parallel systems. This article focuses on the programming environment of the MUSIC system and on its applications.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 25-32, 1996