A review of the current status of the ICF has been prepared and is being submitted to the SRC Engineering Board Committees. This paper was taken from that review and describes the supported Applications Software available on ICF machines.
Twenty-three computers are wholly owned by ICF, including 3 to be installed by the end of 1980, and one to be disposed of in mid-1981. The sites are listed in Table 1, they can be grouped as follows:-
DEC10 2
GEC 4000 series 12
PRIME 750 and 550 9
The 36-bit DEC10 provision is seen as increasingly specialised towards users requiring the widest range of special languages, particularly for AI and some digital design and CAAD research. After 1981 only one KL-10 will be supported by ICF. The GEC 4000 machine has been the normal new multi-user mini provided, except where demand was particularly severe when PRIME 550 (5) or PRIME 750 (4) were installed. An AP 120B Array Processor is installed on one of the Prime 750s at RAL.
An additional nine node computers are linked to ICF and run standard operating systems maintained by ICF staff:-
GEC 4000 series 7
PRIME 400 2
(The operating system is identical for all 3 types of PRIME)
ICF has a part share in six more upgraded MUM installations which are also listed in Table 1.
Access to the SRC central batch facilities is available from many of these computers, and use will accelerate due to the recently installed DECnet/SRC X25 gateway, and with completion of PRIME networking expected early in 1981. Although the ICF computers have batch-processing capabilities themselves, it is the intention that they should be used almost entirely interactively, either for the solution of complete problems, or in the preparation of data for analysis on the batch computers, and then subsequent output analysis.
| Site | Machine | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Edinburgh | DEC 10KL | |
| UMIST | PRIME 750 | (DEC 10KI) |
| RAL | PRIME 750 | × 2, + 1 for Roberts MSc Course |
| Node computers wholly owned by ICF: | ||
| RAL | GEC 4085 | |
| Bristol | GEC 4085 | |
| Cambridge | GEC 4070 | |
| Glasgow | GEC 4070 | |
| Newcastle | GEC 4070 | |
| Cranfield | GEC 4070 | |
| Cardiff | GEC 4070 | |
| Bradford | GEC 4085 | |
| Birmingham | GEC 4080 | |
| Sheffield | GEC 4085 | (to be installed) |
| Herriot Watt | GEC 4085 | (to be installed) |
| QMC | GEC 4085 | (to be installed) |
| Sussex | PRIME 550 | |
| City | PRIME 550 | |
| Surrey | PRIME 550 | |
| UCL | PRIME 550 | |
| Warwick | PRIME 550 | |
| Node computers linked to ICF and running ICF operating systems: | ||
| AL (Slough) | GEC 4070 | |
| UCL Enhanced W/S | GEC 4082 | |
| Manchester W/S | GEC 4082 | |
| RAL | GEC 4080 | |
| ROE | GEC 4082 | |
| NERC Keyworth | GEC 4070 | |
| NERC Swindon | GEC 4070 | |
| Nottingham | PRIME 400 | |
| East Anglia | PRIME 400 | |
| Upgraded systems partly owned by ICF: | ||
| Sheffield | Interdata 8/32 | (ICF to withdraw from 1983) |
| Swansea | PDP 11/45 | |
| Oxford | VAX 11/780 | |
| Southampton | PDP 11/45 | |
| Leeds | VAX 11/780 | |
| MGU | PDP 11/45 | |
A number of Special Interest Groups, with members mainly from Universities and Polytechnics, were set up to advise on the mounting of applications software. In fact, applications software has been obtained from a variety of sources. For convenience, these have been divided into three main groups - software resulting from Special Interest Group activities; basic software which is in general not application specific; and other software which is available on only one machine range. Each contributor has been asked to describe any major impediments to current or future developments.
The work has been carried out by the University of Edinburgh and all programs run on the DEC-10 at ERCC. There are two programmers supported, and the total investment is 6 my of effort.
The major proposal was for the development of a new POP-2 system called WONDERPOP. This has been under development for four years, and is still being improved. POP-2 is a highly interactive language system giving the user a total programming environment. This provides an editor, compiler, debug facilities, etc normally only available as modules. Comprehensive data structures and control facilities are supplied. There is also an associated source library of approximately 20 programs. (There are also two other POP-2 systems available but these are not maintained by the SIG.)
Three dialects of LISP, the list processing language system, are maintained; these are all incompatible but each system has its adherents. Stanford LISP 1.6 is the smallest and is used as a kernel for building larger systems. The CONNIVER system requires the MACLISP dialect. The Rutgers/UCI LISP is the cleanest and is recommended for general use.
Support for PROLOG, a language for programming in predicate calculus, will shortly be undertaken by the SIG. The LISP-based symbolic algebra system is also supported by SIGAI.
The SIG feels that in the future, facilities for AI research will be better provided on single-user minicomputers, which would solve many of the current problems, and improve the quality of the user's programming environment. They would require a large address space, good graphical facilities and a micro-programmable machine structure. Networking will be essential to provide a common filestore, archiving facilities, login messages, and a mail system.
Use of the existing software has come from Edinburgh, Sussex, Warwick, London, Exeter, Liverpool and LSE. No details on specific projects are available.
The SIG has recently reported to ICFC and some of its proposals were also referred to the Building Sub-Committee. The programme has thus barely started, and the major proposals approved are
The work for (i) - (iii) will be carried out at RAL in conjunction with the programme of the Pre and Post Processor Section (described later). For (v), DBOS is being purchased and installed on the Cambridge GEC 4070, AESOP has been developed on the Bristol GEC 4085, a version of GLIDE exists on the DEC 10, and RAPPORT is being recommended by the SRC Working Party on Data Bases and Data Base Management Systems for installation on an ICF Prime computer.
A programme of software development was proposed to the ICFC in June 1979 and accepted. The main areas of work were:
All the above were to be mounted on a range of machines within the ICF in order to provide access for the user community. The software provided so far consists of the UMIST and Cambridge control system design packages. The Cambridge package has been mounted on the DEC10 at UMIST and, of course, is available on the GEC4070 at Cambridge. The UMIST packages are only available on the DEC10 at UMIST.
Planned for the near future is the mounting of the ACSL simulation package on the PRIME machines at UMIST, Sussex and Warwick. User support will be provided by the SIG and by Warwick/Sussex staff.
Support for two programming posts at Kingston Polytechnic was agreed by ICFC, but due to difficulties in finding staff with the right background of control engineering and software development experience, only one of the two programmer staff is currently in post.
Work on the subroutine library is, however, now progressing well. Joint work between Kingston and Warwick on a data analysis/identification package should also begin shortly.
The major user groups are situated at UMIST, Cambridge, Sheffield, Bradford, Warwick, Sussex, Bangor, Bath, Cranfield, City and Kingston. A list of specific projects is not available.
The Electronic Circuit Design Steering Group was formed from the amalgamation of the Digital Circuit Design and Analogue Circuit Design SIGs - SIGCD and SIGDD. The SIGCD proposals were to obtain (or write) and support software for:
SIGDD requirements were for software for:
Both SIGs required support for the software so that users could be trained in their effective use.
At present 3.5 people are in post at RAL and the effort used to date is 7.5 my.
The following programs have been mounted on SRC machines. They provide the best packages currently available to the DACD group, and they cover all of the SIGCD requirements except (iv), and all but (ii) (iv) and (vi) of the SIGD requirements:
| Software | Description | Machine |
|---|---|---|
| ICAP | AC Analysis | PRIME |
| ITAP | Transient Analysis | PRIME |
| SP | Scattering Parameter Analysis | PRIME |
| NAP | AC, DC, Transient Analysis | IBM, PRIME |
| SPICE | AC, DC, Transient Analysis | IBM |
| ASTAP | More flexible analysis program | IBM |
| SCEPTRE | Considers effect of radiation | IBM |
| CSMP | General simulation and analysis | IBM |
| ANP | Frequency and time-domain analysis | IBM, Prime |
| DDL | Digital Design Language | DEC 10 |
| DIGSIM | Statistical Logic Simulator | DEC 10 |
| ISPS | Simulator for ISP language | DEC 10 |
| PCIRC | PCB Layout | PRIME |
| HELP | Comprehensive information and help system | DEC 10 |
For SIGDD (vi), the GAELIC package for IC layout is also available on DEC10 and Prime computers. Support for its implementation was provided by Technology Division at RAL. It is described more fully in 3.1.8.
Two courses on NAP have been held to train researchers from universities and industry on its use. These have proved very successful and several university people have taken copies of the program to mount on their own computers. Further courses on other programs have been arranged.
Problems encountered and envisaged:
| University/Institute | Project |
|---|---|
| Bath | Nonlinear magneto-static problems |
| Bristol | Load variation analysis on communications network |
| RAL (SNS Project) | Transient and frequency analysis of large power supplies. |
| Southampton | Circular transistor modelling. MOSFET multiplier configuration modelling. |
| Birmingham | Various analogue electronic design problems |
| London | Data flow architecture investigation |
The following programs have been made available:
| Software | Description | Machine |
|---|---|---|
| GFUN | Integral operator 3D nonlinear magnetostatic package; some beam tracing possible. | IBM |
| THESEUS | Interactive preprocessor for GFUN | Prime |
| BIM2D | Boundary integral solver for linear Poisson equation in 2D. | Prime + AP120B |
| PE2D | Differential operator solver for non-linear Poisson equation in 2D. Can be used for eddy current calculations and allows some beam tracing. | Prime |
| BIM3D | 3D version of BIM2D | IBM |
| TOSCA | Differential operator solver for nonlinear Poisson equation in 3D. | IBM |
All of the above programs have been developed at RAL over a number of years for in-house projects, and have been adapted by RAL staff supported through ICF, to meet the requirements of university researchers.
PE2D is being developed to include generalised units; infinite elements; fitting and editing of potentials for smoother fields; anisotropy; and hysteresis. In addition, an advanced post-processor is being developed under a contract with Infolytica Ltd. The TOSCA and BIM3D programs are also being interfaced to THESEUS.
Effort at the rate of 2-3 my/year is allocated to ICF. An annual user meeting is held, and regular courses on the use of the programs are given.
| University/Institute | Project |
|---|---|
| Cardiff | Transformer limitation |
| Bath | High homogeneity study Homopolar motor |
| Aberdeen | Electrostatics (hazards) |
| Southampton | Electrostatics (hazards) |
| Leeds | Stepping motor |
| Southampton | Magnetic levitation for wind tunnel |
| Bangor | Magnetic levitation |
| Imperial College | Machine problems |
| Southampton | Machine slot study |
| Surrey | Particle deflection magnet |
| Bristol | Cathodic protection problem |
| Culham Lab/RAL | In-house projects |
The Finite Element Steering Group was formed following the joint proposal by the two Special Interest Groups to ICFC in May 1978. FESG's major objectives have been to support two FE packages, following an evaluation exercise; to develop an FE Library for the large community of research workers who wish to develop software; and to provide interactive pre- and post-analysis tools to help overcome the problems of data generation and validation, and output analysis.
For those researchers requiring robust, well-developed software the ASAS and BERSAFE programs have been obtained for use on the IBM batch computers. ASAS is a large, well-documented system with a good user interface. It provides linear static and modal analysis capabilities. The BERSAFE suite of programs can only handle medium-size problems, but has a wider analysis range, including plasticity, creep, fracture mechanics and transient heat transfer.
The Finite Element Library is not a package: it is aimed at those users who wish to develop new analysis techniques. It is a two-level library, Level 0 being a set of subroutines to provide most of the basic operations needed in constructing an FE program. Level 1 consists of a set of programs showing how the Level 0 library can be used to solve a wide range of problems in both structural analysis and fluid mechanics. The Library is available on the GEC, PRIME and IBM machines. Three courses have been held to train researchers in its use.
The FEMGEN interactive graphics mesh generator has been obtained on Prime and GEC, interfaced to the available FE software. This program is well-liked by the users and provides an excellent tool for the pre-analysis phase.
Two general FE User Meetings have been held, and also the first in a series of one-day specialist meetings called FE Colloquia (on Fluid Mechanics). The user population comes from a wide background, since FE is now being recognised as a general technique for solving partial differential equations. The structural analysis area is still the best-developed however.
Three people are currently in post at RAL, and 7.5 my of effort have been used. The major limitation is the lack of post-processing software; this problem is now being actively considered.
| University/Institute | Project |
|---|---|
| City | Instrument transducer modelling. |
| Kingston Poly | Fracture mechanics |
| Open | Plastic zones at end of notch |
| Birmingham | Dynamic and acoustic behaviour of industrial machines. |
| Heriot-Watt | Forced vibration of electric motor casing. |
| Bath | Electromechanical stressing in electric motors |
| Swansea | Infinite elements |
| Robert Gordon's | Drilling fluid flow |
| UMIST | Water movement in porous masonry |
| Newcastle Poly | Structure of thin films |
| Liverpool | Tidal flow in estuaries |
| Surrey | Analysis of trombone vibrations |
| Glasgow | Ultimate load design methods for plates and walls. |
| Preston Polytechnic | Lubrication of bearings |
| Bath | Diesel engine design |
| TRRL | Tunnels and underground pipes |
The aim of this group is to obtain for ICF users general-purpose interactive pre-processors (eg, geometric modellers, mesh generators) and software modules for use in constructing interactive post-processors (eg, database management, high-level graphics, command decoding). The group has been in existence for less than a year. Software available shortly will be DBOS (a library of Fortran-callable subroutines to perform data management for applications software) and SIMPLEPLOT (a library of Fortran routines for producing good quality annotated graphs quickly and easily).
Some of the work of the group will be carried out specifically for the programme of the Computer-Aided Architectural Design SIG referred to earlier. A major problem is that although the report to ICF recommended 4my/year of effort, only 1.5 staff are in post at RAL. Effort has therefore been restricted to specific areas, to the detriment of others.
The GAELIC suite of programs for integrated circuit design and layout has been mounted on the Prime as well as the DEC10. It has been enhanced to enable users to design mask sets for fabrication at the Electron Beam Lithography Facility at RAL. This work is not part of ICF, but is supported under the Roberts Panel and the CAD support for EBL. Support will be transferred soon to the Integrated Circuit Design Steering Group. Current effort is 3.5 my/year, and the total effort so far is 6 my.
One of the Prime 750s at RAL was purchased to run GAELIC in support of M.Sc courses in integrated circuit design at several British Universities. In the first instance, these are Edinburgh, Durham, Southampton, Brunel and UMIST.
This section describes software which is not specific to anyone applications area, but is of wide interest. Each of the major ICF machines (DEC, GEC, PRIME) are supplied with the NAG Library as a standard numerical software library. The other major software groups are Database Management/Information Retrieval systems, Graphics software, and Statistical packages, which are described in the following sub-sections.
Three major items of software are described here - STATUS, PRIME DBMS, and MIDAS. All of these are available only on the PRIME 750 at RAL; however it should be noted that the DBOS system is being provided on a GEC machine under the Pre- and Post-processors programme (see 3.1.7). STATUS is a full text information retrieval system with efficient online retrieval facilities. Half of the funds for its purchase were provided by ICF. There are a number of users, mostly at RAL, e.g. the Council Works Unit for specifications of 12,000 Engineering drawings.
PRIME DBMS is an implementation of the CODASYL Data Base Task Group 1971 report, with a few extensions. It provides generalised data management capabilities for creating and maintaining structured databases. Both hierarchical and network type data structures are possible. A Fortran callable interface is provided.
MIDAS is a data management system which can be used to set up and maintain large indexed sequential files. Up to 20 indexes are allowed for a MIDAS file and keys can be of various types. MIDAS is accessible via Fortran, and is suitable for applications where the quantity of data is large but the inherent structure is not complex enough to warrant use of a DBMS.
ICFC's recommendations at its November 1976 meeting were that:
FINGS was implemented as the minimal graphics package, with device drivers for Tektronix 4010 and 4014, .and the FR80. A driver for the Benson 1302 plotter has been added more recently.
GINO-F and GINOGRAF were purchased and implemented on the PRIME 400 (only the PRIME 300 version was available). New device drivers, most written internally, for Tektronix 4010, 4014; Imlac PDS4, Dynagraphic 3205; Sigma GOC T5600, T5670 (monochrome), 5664 (colour); Benson 1302 plotter; FR80; and Hewlett-Packard 2648A are now available. A Hewlett-Packard 7221B desk-top plotter device driver is under development. GPGS-F was obtained but lack of manpower precluded its implementation.
However FINGS is available on all ICF MUMs and GINO-F on all ICF machines (including the DEC10s).
The major problem is that only one staff member is currently supporting ICF graphics. This means there is little time for, eg, reviewing the degree of fulfilment of users' needs; or surveying the increasing range of high level software available such as certain areas of contouring and graph drawing.
The STARLINK project, which uses 6 VAX 11/780 computers for image processing of astronomical data has made the decision to use GKS (the German draft standard graphics package). There is close cooperation between RAL and the German Implementers, and the latest version from Germany was installed in August. Device drivers have been written for Tektronix 4010, Sigma 5670 and ARGS. SRC staff are also participating actively through the BSI Graphics Chapter in the refinement of the GKS standard.
The Rosenbrock report identified interactive statistical software as a requirement, but no formal commitment in this area has been made by ICFC. However, in support of some local RAL requirements, some software has been made available. The most widely used statistical package, SPSS, has been mounted in both the standard batch and more limited interactive versions on the PRIME. This has been used in work for the National Committee of Computer Networks and a survey for the Instrumentation Committee. SPSS has also been used to monitor use and response characteristics of the PRIME computers. SCSS, the fully interactive version of SPSS, is available on the ERCC DEC10 on an own risk basis. Both GLIM and GENSTAT have been mounted on the RAL PRIME, mainly due to interest by a group at Leicester Polytechnic.
Signal processing/time series analysis software is, of course, available on the upgraded University MUM at the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research at Southampton University. Cranfield's SPAG system is now available on the ICF GEC MUMs.
(All ICF machines by default have the NAG, GINO-F and GINOGRAF libraries.)
Both UMIST and ERCC have the following languages available:
AID ALGOL BASIC BCPL BLISS-10 FORTRAN MACY-11 PAL-10 SAIL SIMULA
The RUNOFF text layout package is also mounted on both machines.
Further software items available at ERCC only are:
APL BLISS-11 FASBOL IMP REDUCE-2 LAYOUT text layout system CALCOMP graphics library SMOG graphics library CSSR crystal structure information retrieval system
At UMIST additional items are:
ALGOL COBOL68 FAIL PALX11 PASCAL EISPACK Argonne eigenvalue/eigenvector extraction routines POWDER Refinement of crystal structure using profile analysis
The following languages are available:
APL BABBAGE BASIC BCPL FORTRAN
The RUNOFF and GEROFF text layout packages are also mounted. A wire wrapping design program, WIREWRAP, is mounted on the RAL machine.
Languages available are:
BASIC BCPL FORTRAN FORTRAN 77 MICROSIM PASCAL
The DUCT geometric modeller has been obtained for the RAL PRIME 750. RUNOFF and WIREWRAP are also available on the Chilton machine. POWDER is being transferred over to the UMIST Prime 750.
This machine was bought for evaluation as a cheap (approx £50k) high speed attached processor for the PRIME A machine at RAL. The aim was to give more cpu power on an interactive timescale. Initially the machine was difficult to use, the only modes being the Maths library or a difficult assembler. In October 1979 a compiler (APFORTRAN) and link-editor (APLOAD) were installed, and usage has steadily increased since then. This software, which runs on the PRIME, is slow and cumbersome; compilation is normally done in batch mode. A significant amount of work has been done on the software at RAL , particularly by modifying the input/output and library searching. A speed gain of a factor of 10 has been achieved over the original software in link-editing.
Using APFORTRAN a speed gain on execution on the AP120B over a PRIME 400 of between 4 and 9 times is achieved. If the assembler is used, gains between 10 and 30 times a PRIME 400 are normally achieved. The drawbacks to current use are the 38-bit word length (inadequate for some applications areas); lack of COMPLEX and DOUBLE PRECISION; and the small program memory which allows a maximum of between 400 and 600 lines of FORTRAN.
User groups are:
| University/Institute | Project |
|---|---|
| RAL (SIGEM) | Two production codes running |
| Reading | Semi-conductor simulation |
| Bristol | Algorithm development in fluid dynamics |
| York | Crystallography |
| Leeds | Chemical engineering |
| Oxford | Image analysis of electron microscope data |
| Salford | Fluid dynamics |
| Sheffield | Control Engineering |