By Linda Callahan
The MathWorks Inc. of Natick, Mass., has joined the Cornell Theory Center's (CTC) Corporate Partnership Program. A research team at Cornell is working with The MathWorks on a project to increase the capabilities of the programming language MATLAB for multiple processors and high-performance computing.
MATLAB (matrix laboratory) is a technical computing environment for high -performance numeric computation and visualization. MATLAB integrates nu merical analysis, matrix computation, signal processing and graphics in an easy -to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed just as they are written mathematically -- without traditional programming.
Used in university engineering and computer science departments, and also used in industrial settings for research and for solving practical engineering and mathematical problems, MATLAB is a complete, extensible technical comput ing environment that provides computation, visualization and application-spe cific toolboxes.
The research team, comprising members from the Theory Center and Cornell's Com puter Science Department, is investigating methods for running MATLAB not only on high-performance computers such as the SP but also on networks of workstations, with out requiring changes to the MATLAB kernel product.
According to Anne Trefethen, a Cornell research scientist and one of the project leaders, "We want people to be able to use the computer resources around them with the tools they already know and enhance the power of those tools. We hope this collabo ration will bring MATLAB into the high-performance computing arena."
Cleve Moler, MathWorks chairman and chief scientist, said: "We are excited about this project. The individual nodes of parallel computers are now powerful enough that each one can run a full copy of MATLAB. The prospect of combining doz ens of MATLABs on a large-scale simulation is very intriguing. It has never been done before."
This is a non-commercial research project. Any software generated will be in the public domain, available from Cornell or MathWorks file servers.
"This kind of partnership shows how leading software vendors and advanced cen ters like CTC can join forces to demonstrate the value of scalable systems for both aca demic and commercial applications," said Peter M. Siegel, director of CTC's Corpo rate Partnership Program. "I am especially excited at the potential to affect new busi ness communities, such as the financial industry, for which the combination of pow erful, easy-to-use software like MATLAB and a scalably parallel computer like the IBM SP is ideal."
The MathWorks Inc. was established to develop and market interactive engineering and scientific software products. The company specializes in providing high-perfor mance numeric computation and graphics in an easy-to-use environment for univer sity, government and commercial markets worldwide. The company's goal is to in crease the scope and productivity of science and engineering, accelerate the pace of dis covery and development, facilitate learning and amplify the creativity of research.
Cornell Theory Center is one of four high-performance computing and commu nications centers supported by the National Science Foundation. Activities of the center also are funded by New York state, the Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health, IBM and other members of CTC's Corporate Research Institute.