Early MIMD Experience with a Plasma Physics Simulation Program on the CRAY X-MP

摘要

This paper describes some early experience with converting a plasma physics simulation program to the CRAY X-MP, a current multiple instruction, multiple data (MIMD) computer consisting of two processors with architecture similar to that of the CRAY-1. The computer program used in this study is an all Fortran version of SELF, a two species, one space, two velocity, electromagnetic, Newtonian, particle in cell, plasma simulation code. The approach to converting SELF to use both processors of the CRAY X-MP is described in some detail. The resulting multiprocessor version of SELF is nearly a factor of two faster in real time than the single processor version. The multiprocessor version obtains 58.2+-.1 seconds of central processor time in 30+-.5 seconds of real time. For comparison, the CRAY-1 execution time if 74.5 seconds. For SELF, which is mostly scalar coding, the CRAY X-MP is about 2.5 times faster overall than the CRAY-1. (ERA citation 11:018814)