COMPUTING SEMINAR

ABSTRACT

After compilers and operating systems, TSIAs are the third advance in application support. A compiler supports a high level application definition in terms of a programming language. An operating system supports a high level interface to the resources used by an application execution. A TSIA provides an application with an implicitly parallel, distributed, heterogeneous, adaptive, dynamic, real-time, interactive, reliable, secure or other execution. A TSIA thus supports a high level application execution. A TSIA also supports the application definition. This run-time support is complementary to the compile-time support of a compiler. For example, this allows a language similar to Fortran or C to deliver features promised by functional computing.

While many TSIAs exist, they previously have not been recognized as such and have served only a small variety of applications. Existing TSIAs and other projects demonstrate that TSIAs are feasible for most applications.

This talk outlines TSIA, with emphasis on its motivation and feasibility.

Further information on TSIA is available at http://www.tsia.org .

Previous computing projects by Burkhard Burow:

Since 1990, cfortran.h is a popular system for combining C/C++ and Fortran routines.

Since 1992, Funnel is the parallel/reliable/... batch system for the Monte Carlo event production of the ZEUS experiment at DESY in Hamburg, Germany. Funnel currently uses the otherwise-idle cycles of about 500 workstations spread across 15 institutes around the world. Since 1995, Funnel also is the basis of FUL3, the MC production system for the L3 experiment at CERN.