Lee.Sailer@CMU-CS-C.ARPA (04/08/85)
Cuccia's (non) solution is an example of my problem. I call it a non-solution because (1) it defines a constant M >> the upper limit allowed in most Z80 Pascals, and (2) the statement x := (x*A) mod M is eventually gonna overflow. Another problem: A and M relatively prime is NOT sufficient to guarantee good statistical properties of a rn generator. So, in more direct form, here is my problem: I am writing a journal article that includes a monte-carlo statistical simulation. I know that the journal @i(requires) a "good" rn generator--most people use IMSL. A good rn generator is one that passes a wide variety of statistical tests for randomness. Therefore, I must now find a "good" generator for the Z80, or port my program over to a mainframe with IMSL. I have nothing against linear congruential generators as suggested by Cuccia, but I gotta know what the right constants are for my z80, and I hafta have a citation that says they are the right ones, else the journal will laugh and say, "resubmit when you have duplicated your results on a real computer." One last point--I have tested the built in random in Turbo Pascal, and it sure isn't random. lee -------