Visual Animation of Parallel Algorithms for Matrix Computations

Abstract

In this talk we show how graphical animation of the behavior of parallel algorithms can facilitate the design and performance enhancement of algorithms for matrix computations on parallel computer architectures. Using a portable instrumented communication library and a graphical animation package developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, we illustrate the effects of various strategies in parallel algorithm design, including interconnection topologies, global communication patterns, data mapping schemes, load balancing, and pipelining techniques for overlapping communication with computation. In this talk we focus on distributed-memory parallel architectures in which the processors communicate by passing messages. The linear algebra problems we consider include matrix factorization and the solution of triangular systems.