An Introduction to CPE by Geoffrey 
Fox


Aims and Goals 
Concurrency is seen in an increasing number of computing and communication 
systems. We have tens of millions of clients on the World Wide Web and many 
thousands of powerful nodes in high end massively parallel machines (MPP). One can 
project continued rapid progress with in ten years, Exaop performance from the Web and 
Petaflop capabilities in closely coupled parallel machines. This leads to a confusing rich 
choice of architectures with distributed memory PC clusters or Web-based computers and 
shared memory MPP’s.  These are enabled and coupled with a corresponding boosts in 
wide-area network performance and deployment with a blurring and convergence of 
computing and communication. This hardware juggernaut is coupled to new languages 
and programming paradigms such as Java and VRML for the Web and multithreading 
HPF and MPI for parallel systems. The combination of concurrent digital and optical 
technology is expected to create a Global Information Infrastructure (GII) that will enable 
new applications, and open up a new set of communication and computer software and 
architecture challenges. We need portable and scalable (portable to the future and to 
hybrid heterogeneous world-wide systems) solutions. 
This technology is being driven by and used in a wide range of academic, 
research, and commercial application areas. This use is producing a substantial amount of 
practical experience in those problems that are enabled or enhanced by this amazing 
infrastructure. There are also new computational methods, such as mobile agents, cellular 
automata and massively parallel neural networks, which are particularly suited to 
concurrent execution. There is a rapid growth in both scientific (grand challenges) and 
information (national challenge) applications which drive both the functionality and high 
performance of the base technologies. These will impact academia, business, the homes 
and education. New applications are also being opened up by advances in human-
computer interfaces with full immersive environments becoming available and tools to 
support those with disabilities broadening the reach of the computer and communication 
revolution. 
This journal will therefore focus on practical experience with the application of 
these converging trends to solve real problems. In particular themes of our papers include:
  Concurrent solutions to specific problems in academia, industry and society. 
  Concurrent algorithms and computational methods. 
  Programming environments, operating systems, tools, concurrent languages, 
compilers, interpreters.
  Performance prediction, analysis, models and results. 
  Applications, and algorithm and software technologies arising from the World 
Wide Web including novel areas such as education.
  Unification of computing and communication; unification of parallel and 
distributed computing.