Distributed design tools: Mapping targeted design tools onto a Web-based distributed architecture for high-performance computing

摘要

Design Tools use a Web-based Java interface to guide a product designer through the design-to-analysis cycle for a specific, well-constrained design problem. When these Design Tools are mapped onto a Web-based distributed architecture for high-performance computing, the result is a family of Distributed Design Tools (DDTs). The software components that enable this mapping consist of a Task Sequencer, a generic Script Execution Service, and the storage of both data and metadata in an active, object-oriented database called the Product Database Operator (PDO). The benefits of DDTs include improved security, reliability, scalability (in both problem size and computing hardware), robustness, and reusability. In addition, access to the PDO unlocks its wide range of services for distributed components, such as lookup and launch capability, persistent shared memory for communication between cooperating services, state management, event notification, and archival of design-to-analysis session data.