PORTABLE FORTRAN GNS PROGRAMMING SYSTEM

L.A. Pozdniakov, M.Yu. Khramtsov
VANT. Ser.: Mat. Mod. Fiz. Proc 1997. Вып.1. С. 61.

      For the development of the portable parallel programming system for distributed memory multiprocessors, a new approach was chosen providing a much higher stability level of parallel programming environment as compared to the library approach.
      The following basic Fortran GNS properties served the base for choosing it for the development of such systems:
      - dynamic generation of subtasks;
      - addressing the subtasks using the dynamically generated identifiers;
      - coupling between each subtask and the remaining ones;
      - three interaction ways for subtasks based on message passing: synchronous, asynchronous, wait-free;
      - data specification for subtasks communications using a standard Fortran I/O list.
      The programming system based on Fortran GNS is composed of the following elements:
      1. A converter transforming Fortran GNS to Fortran-77 codes using the procedures of library support for Fortran GNS.
      2. Systems support libraries for Fortran GNS providing parallel execution. These are available to users as library files coming to the linker input together with the object user modules.
      3. Configurator forming the logic task configuration and mapping onto the physical configuration of the computing system.
      4. Systems tools supporting the subtask triggering mechanisms and message passing.
      These are available to the users as final modules-coming to the configurator input. The implementation of Fortran GNS system on a specific platform would rest on the existing Fortran-77 version for the given platform and standard parallel execution tools.
      The work was carried out under the auspices of Russian Fundamental Research Foundation (project N 96-01- 00493).