Optical design of astronomical telescopes with large-scale computational methods by distributed processing on local area networks

John B. Roll Jr.; Martin S. Elvis; Andrew H. Szentgyorgyi; Leon P. Van Speybroeck

doi:10.1117/12.176825

1 June 1994 Optical design of astronomical telescopes with large-scale computational methods by distributed processing on local area networks

John B. Roll Jr., Martin S. Elvis, Andrew H. Szentgyorgyi, Leon P. Van Speybroeck

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2198, Instrumentation in Astronomy VIII; (1994) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.176825
Event: 1994 Symposium on Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation for the 21st Century, 1994, Kailua, Kona, HI, United States

Abstract

The downhill simplex and simulated annealing algorithms are powerful design tools for optical systems that do not yield to analytic methods of optimization. Use of these numerical techniques have been frustrated by the shortage of computational resources available to investigators. To tap the latent computational resources available in even moderate sized local area networks (LAN's), we have developed software to operate flexibly, a LAN composed of UNIX workstations as a distributed processor for optical design optimization. We have developed a general purpose remote procedure call generator and subroutine library which allow simple specification and use of existing subprograms as remote procedures. This software provides a mechanism for modifying or developing large scientific and engineering applications with inherent parallelism for distributed processing on LAN's. We discuss the performance, bandwidth, and adaptability of this software as applied to the problem of grazing incidence optics design using the simulated annealing algorithm.

Citation Download Citation

John B. Roll Jr., Martin S. Elvis, Andrew H. Szentgyorgyi, and Leon P. Van Speybroeck "Optical design of astronomical telescopes with large-scale computational methods by distributed processing on local area networks", Proc. SPIE 2198, Instrumentation in Astronomy VIII, (1 June 1994); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.176825

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