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Methodologies for validating parallel programs

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5145829

With the rapid progress in the areas of parallel algorithms and parallel architectures, it is realized that effective, systematic methodologies for parallel software construction and validation must be developed to fully utilize the potential offered by parallel processing. Motivated by the fact that program testing has been the most commonly used approach to sequential software validation but little previous research has focused on parallel program testing, this thesis addresses the issues of testing parallel programs with emphasis on synchronous parallel programs for SIMD machines. First introduced is a Pascal-based, general-purpose parallel language for SIMD machine programming. Algorithms for interconnection and shared-memory machines are implemented in this language and used as examples. This provides an environment to study the characteristics of parallel programming. An essential element of a theory for parallel program testing is a classification of parallel programming errors. Based on the prominent features of parallel programs, the author classifies parallel programming errors into processor activation errors, interprocessor communication errors, and computation errors. Several approaches are then developed for designing testing coverage criteria for parallel programs.

Research Organization:
Texas Univ., Dallas, TX (USA)
OSTI ID:
5145829
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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