Parallel computing

Lynch named Athena LecturerProfessor honored for advances in distributed systems that enable dependable Internet and wireless network applications.

Simulating tomorrow’s chipsA new system makes hardware models of multicore chips more efficient, easier to design and more reliable.

Language barrierTo take advantage of multicore chips, programmers will need software development systems that let them express themselves in fundamentally new ways.

No backtalkOne key to making parallel algorithms efficient is to minimize the amount of communication between cores.

Retooling algorithmsCharles Leiserson and his team are experts at designing parallel algorithms — including one for a chess-playing program that outperformed IBM’s Deep Blue.

The next operating systemOperating systems for multicore chips will need more information about their own performance — and more resources for addressing whatever problems arise.

Designing the hardwareImproving communication between distributed processors and managing shared data are two of the central challenges in creating tomorrow’s chips.

Multicore may not be so scaryResearch suggests that the free operating system Linux will keep up with the addition of more ‘cores,’ or processing units, to computer chips.

Mastering multicoreMIT researchers find a way to make complex computer simulations run more efficiently on chips with multiple processors.

Parallel courseAs chip makers turn to multiple 'cores' to improve performance, MIT researchers help ease programmers' transition to parallel programming.