Section: Other Grants and Activities
ANR Project NUMASIS
Magique-3D participates in an ANR research program called NUMASIS managed by J.F. Méhaut (INRIA Rhône-Alpes, Grenoble). In this context we naturally collaborate with SCALAPPLIX and RUNTIME from INRIA futurs (Bordeaux). The main idea of the NUMASIS project is that multiprocessor machines of tomorrow will posses a NUMA architecture introducing multiple levels of hierarchy in computers (multi-modules, multi-core chips, multithreading systems, etc). To use them efficiently, parallel applications must have powerful tools making it possible to guide the distribution of execution and data flows without compromising their portability. The NUMASIS project proposes to evaluate the functionalities provided by current systems, to apprehend their limitations, to design and implement new management mechanisms for processes, data and communications within the basic software (operating system, libraries). The application field selected for NUMASIS is seismology, which appears to us to be representative of current needs in scientific computing.
Numerical modeling of seismic wave propagation in complex geological media is one of the significant research topics in seismology. Various approaches will be studied and their adequacy compared to specificities of NUMA machines will be evaluated. The various calculations will be based on modern numerical algorithms such as spectral elements, high-order finite differences or finite elements applied to realistic 3D models. The NUMASIS project will study problems of parallel algorithms (distribution, scheduling) making it possible to optimize the calculations based on these schemes by using as efficiently as possible the execution frameworks developed for these NUMA architectures.
The NUMASIS project was submitted in 2005 and accepted by the Calcul Intensif et Grilles de Calcul program of ANR. The project officially started on January 1, 2006 under reference ANR-05-CIGC-002. It will end on December 31, 2008. In the context of this project, Magique-3D has obtained 84000 euros for three years, which will be used mostly to fund the salary of a software engineer (David Michéa, who has joined Magique-3D on November 1, 2006) for two years.
