Scripted HTML version of Foils prepared 27 December 1996

Foil 11 The Two Basic Distributions in HPF

From CPS615-Align and Distribute in HPF Delivered Lectures of CPS615 Basic Simulation Track for Computational Science -- 1 October 96. by Geoffrey C. Fox *
Secs 282.2
We used BLOCK in the Laplace equation example and so this is appropriate distribution for "local" or geometric type problems
CYCLIC is called scattered in our early work (or is a special case of scattered which is perhaps random distribution of objects on processors) is appropriate in cases where "load-balancing" is more important than locality
  • Simplest examples are matrix inversion and graphics rendering problems
  • In solving equations (we will do later) Ax=b , there is no "nearest neighbor" structure between rows and columns, but rather one eliminates rows and columns and cyclic distribution ensures work remains balanced
  • In calculating pixels, work depends on complexity of picture at that pixel and so best to distribute pixels cyclically (or randomly) to processors.

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