[comp.parallel] Parallel architecture simulators

swm@unccvax.UUCP (swami manohar) (04/18/89)

Hello folks!
	 Sorry for the delay in posting the summary. My comments are
enclosed in angle brackets << >>
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From: David Ellsworth <mcnc!unc!ellswort>
Message-Id: <8904072138.AA14569@dopey.cs.unc.edu>
Organization: University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

I took a course in parallel algorithms last semester here from Dr. Tyagi
(tyagi@unc.cs.unc.edu); you might want to talk with him. We used the
butterfly at Duke and the Sequent at NC State for our projects.

Machines you were interested in:

Intel hypercube

   We have a simulator (the Caltech Cosmic cube, I think) here; talk to Jon
   Leech leech@unc.cs.unc.edu.

BBN Butterfly
Sequent Balance
   
   I suggest that you use the real machines at Duke & NC State respectively;
   Dr. Tyagi did the negotiation for our class. <<may be more useful for
us here in North Carolina>>

The connection machine

   You can get free use of a connection machine from Thinking Machines
   (paid by either DARPA or NSF, I forget which). Russ Tuck
   (tuck@unc.cs.unc.edu) knows more about this.

Using the real machines instead of simulators requires a good internet
connection.  However, I think that simulators for most of the machines
either don't exist or run very slowly; you would do just as good by using
the machine over the internet. << I got an account on the network CM
(it is sponsered by DARPA) but have not started using it: I have 
to order the documentation. ray@think.com was the person I contacted
to get an account>>


Good luck,
David Ellsworth

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>From cs.utexas.edu!top.cis.syr.edu!nasokan@gatech.edu Thu Apr  6 23:21:24 1989
Organization: CIS Dept., Syracuse University

<<A number of parallel machines are available with the Northeastern
Parallel Computation Center at Syracuse. I think it they include
two connection machines , a hypercube etc. (i lost the original
message, but Asokan was kind enough to resend me the contact
address given below)>>

Contact addresses:   Carleton E Geckler - geckler@cmx.npac.syr.edu
			 Bill O'Farrel      - billo@cmx.npac.syr.edu

Asokan

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>From ephraim@Think.COM Thu Apr  6 10:45:49 1989
Subject: starlisp simulator for CM
Date: Thu, 06 Apr 89 10:44:41 EDT
Status: R

You can obtain a copy of the starlisp simulator for the CM via
anonymous ftp from cmns.think.com.

Here's a forwarded message from one of the cmns folks here.

 --- Start of forwarded message ---

gandalf%gingold> ftp cmns.think.com
Connected to cmns.think.com.
220 cmns-vax.think.com FTP server (Ultrix Version 4.10 Mon Nov 7 15:52:11 EST 1988) ready.
Name (cmns.think.com:gingold): anonymous
331 Guest login ok, send ident as password.
Password:guest

230 Guest login ok, access restrictions apply.
ftp> ls
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for /bin/ls (192.31.177.24,1465) (0 bytes).
CM_Lights
archives
bin
etc
gnu
starsim-f15-sharfile
usr
vision
226 Transfer complete.
71 bytes received in .31 seconds (.22 Kbytes/s)
ftp> get starsim-f15-sharfile
200 PORT command successful.
150 Opening data connection for starsim-f15-sharfile (192.31.177.24,1466) (1034296 bytes).
226 Transfer complete.
local: starsim-f15-sharfile remote: starsim-f15-sharfile
1064100 bytes received in 39 seconds (27 Kbytes/s)
ftp> bye
221 Goodbye.

Now, I don't know a lot about the simulator and how to use it.  It
should run with Common Lisp, though.  Getting documentation for
starlisp probably happens through our standard channels for that
stuff.

You might want to reply to this guy and give him the info.  (Ok, I
should have done it.  I'm either lazy or overburdened.  Maybe both.)

- -dg

------- End of Forwarded Message

<< Here are some details on the CM documentation:

There are two sets, one for symbolic computing ($130) and 
another for numeric computing ($170).
Both sets have the following manuals: CM-2 technical summary,
CM front-end subsystems, CM Parallel instruction set (PARIS),
and CM programming in LISP. the numeric computing set has
the CM programming in C* extra.>>
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>From shannon@intelisc.intel.com Sat Apr 15 07:40:11 1989
From: Shannon Nelson <shannon@intelisc.intel.com>
Organization: Intel Scientific Computer, Beaverton, OR

We have a simulator for our iPSC/2.  For ordering information, call
either your local sales rep, Nolan Drevitch @ 404-594-0518, or call
our Customer Support line @ 1-800-421-CUBE.


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>From mailrus!ames!amdahl!shs@gatech.edu Fri Apr  7 17:39:53 1989
From: mailrus!ames!uts.amdahl.com!shs@gatech.edu (Steve Schoettler)
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA

Free to universities:
  
   PARET: An Integrated, Visual Tool for the Study of Parallel Systems
   send email to edmark@vax135.att.com for licensing agreement and more info.

   RCS: The Rochester Connectionist Simulator
   send mail to   Mrs. Rose Peet
                  Department of Computer Science
                  Rochester, NY 14627

I have used PARET.  It's very nice.  The current version runs on a 
Sun under suntools (4.0) or X10.

Steve
   
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>From jerbil@csvax.caltech.edu Thu Apr  6 20:42:42 1989
Organization: California Institute of Technology
From: Stainless Steel Gerbil (Joe Beckenbach) <jerbil@csvax.caltech.edu>

	For a hypercube of a general message-passing machine,
how about the ghostcubes from Caltech's Cosmic Environment?
Release information is available here at Caltech, and I think the
normal route is to send mail to chuck@vlsi.caltech.edu  [the head of
the department and the hypercube effort]  asking about it.  If you've
got access to an Arpanet host, things will go more quickly, but I
think it can be distributed on tape.

	The Cosmic Environment runs on various Unixes, including 4.1BSD,
4.2BSD, and SunOS 3.x.  4.3tahoe and SunOS 4.x will be later on,
after the CS department machines are upgraded.

	If you need additional help, just send e-mail to me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Organization: University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK
From: Longshot <texsun!uokmax!randy@uokmax@suntri>
Sender: texsun!uokmax!randy@uokmax@suntri

Last Summer, I did some undergraduate research here at OU, using a package
called MPSIM, which simulated a hypercube architecture. I know it runs on
several flavors of UNIX (we use BSD4.2). It was written by T. H. Dunigan,
but I have since lost his address.
<< does anyone have more information on the above?>>
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>From montnaro@sprite.crd.ge.com Fri Apr  7 14:07:44 1989
From: montnaro@sprite.crd.ge.com (Skip Montanaro)
Reply-To: <montanaro@sprite.crd.ge.com> (Skip Montanaro)

    Send a mail message to Dave Ray (ray@think.com) to see if you can get 
    one or
    more accounts on Thinking Machines' front-end machines. They have a
    DARPA-sponsored project, the Connection Machine Network Service (CMNS),
    which may be available for teaching purposes.

    Skip Montanaro (montanaro@sprite.crd.ge.com)



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Comments:

First, thanks to everyone who responded to my request. (I sent
mail to everyone. hope you got it). It is really a pleasure
to be part of this wonderful group.

Most of the above pertains to hypercubes or the connection
machine (there is only one reference to the BBN butterfly, but
that is about a real machine at Duke). I am sure there are
simulators for a number of shared-memory multiprocessors
out there. Please respond if you have information on these.

I have to wait till May to start following up on the
above pointers. I will post another summary in early June.
More pointers are welcome in the meanwhile.

Thanks very much

Swami

-- 
Swami Manohar	                        Email:  mcnc!unccvax!swm@mcnc.org
Computer Science Department             Phone:    704-547-4883
University of North Carolina
Charlotte, NC 28223