Revolution or evolution?

Article Abstract:

Supercomputers are gradually becoming the fastest processing machines the industry has ever seen, but significant strides will require software development at a pace that keeps up with the hardware improvements. Supercomputers could implement as many processors as they can physically handle. This is the revolutionary method of coaxing performance out of massive parallelism. A more effective way of nurturing the software market and reaching the desired performance goals is to increase the number of processors every year and let software developers slowly grow alongside the hardware developments. The supercomputer market needs more compilers and better integration with the systems and industries that already exist. Researchers are working to deliver more standards, better performance benchmarks and a systematic criteria base for gauging processing speed needs.

Prepackaged software, Software, Product development, Industry Analysis, Performance, Massive Parallelism, Software packages

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Perspectives on visualization

Article Abstract:

Computer-based visualization is one way to help computational research make an impact beyond the numbers, theory, computer code and graphs that are often invoked to explain physical phenomena. Visualization first emerged as a tool for analysis and reporting but has since evolved into a means for data management and code debugging other other purposes. Some inherent limitations with visualization exist including the representation of a three-dimensional object on a two-dimensional screen. However, visualization techniques have developed to address these needs. Interactivity gives the viewer a perspective and a context for visual information. Visualization has evolved to the point where small objects, large objects, ephemeral and long-lasting objects can be represented on screens as humans perceive them in real-life.

Computational complexity (Machine theory), Visualization (Computers), Visualization (Computer), Computational Complexity, Research Design, Visualization

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Modeling reality

Article Abstract:

Supercomputers allow researchers to perform mathematical modeling which generates very precise representations of reality. The US government recognized the power of supercomputers in the early 1980s and assigned researchers the task of developing national security applications. Supercomputers can be applied to a wide variety of industries including the design of aircrafts, semiconductors, fuel combustion systems, drugs, and for interpreting weather patterns and ozone depletion. Supercomputers can perform some of this research with the current gigaflops performance, but the future applications require at least a trillion floating-point operations per second (teraflops). These machines should be available by 1994 or 1995 and will use several processing units instead of just one high-speed processor.

Technological forecasting, Industrial research, Performance improvement (Computers), Research and Development, Future of Computing, Performance Improvement

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