Distributed mathematics in a heterogeneous environment
James R. Campbell · University of North Texas Digital Library (University of North Texas) · 1987
The advent of sophisticated window and operating system tools during the past several years has made it possible to provide user interfaces that are not as card- or line-oriented as previous interfaces. In addition, networking software has made it possible to distribute work among several computers so that optimal use is made of existing facilities. The computer Research and Application Group at Los Alamos National Laboratory uses these tools to access, control, and animate solutions to mathematical algorithms and to provide a simplified interface to large mathematical documentation databases. A mouse-driven menu system provides access to these documentation databases. Mathematical routines have been distributed between Sun Microsystems workstations and CRAY XMP Supercomputers. Controls of these algorithms is accomplished by using windows and panels that control input to computational modules executing on the cray. These modules return solutions to the workstation in real time. The solutions are then animated by using standard graphics. Evolution of time-dependent problems can be viewed by buffering solution data through the memory of the workstation. 7 refs., 4 figs., 4 tabs.