IMSL Distributed Network Fortran Library Available for NEC SX-4 Series Supercomputers.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 11, 1998--Visual Numerics, Inc. today announced that IMSL(R) Distributed Network Fortran Library (DNFL), a Fortran 90-based numerical library, is now available for NEC SX-4 Series supercomputers.

This release is a logical step to provide industry-standard numerical software for high end SX-4 Series parallel vector system users.

Today, a large and growing number of mission critical and research users are focusing on the SX-4 Series as a necessary tool for their applications. The users have determined that for their environments, the SX-4 Series is providing the highest performance for the least total investment in hardware and programming. They are able to continue development of their shared memory model codes to achieve extremely high performance, and can realize substantial performance growth through adoption of the SX-4 Multi Node distributed memory models.

Since the SX-4 Series is increasingly being integrated into networked systems as a key cycle server, providing DNFL for this platform is a key to providing the comprehensive support environment necessary to encompass the diverse HPC systems used by our customers.

DNFL enables developers to optimize Fortran application performance by employing under-utilized processors, regardless of type, in a supercomputer or network. This is accomplished through DNFL's smart self-scheduling algorithm (SSA) - the underlying technology. Working from a prioritized list of available processors (that can be generated automatically with DNFL), the SSA allocates the workload continuously so the fastest processors receive a larger share of the work. As a result, super-linear and scaleable performance can be realized in correlation to the network's computing power.

In the case of the SX-4 Series, which has the fastest general purpose processors available, DNFL is primarily designed to support distributed applications that execute across SX-4 Series Multi Node systems. A further benefit is that DNFL simplifies and enables applications that are portable across different vendor platforms.

Tadashi Watanabe, General Manager of NEC's Supercomputer Marketing Promotion Division, said "The availability of IMSL DNFL for our SX-4 Series is an important step for both NEC and our users. DNFL provides our users with FORTRAN90 based industry-standard numerical libraries that can achieve very high performance on SX-4 Series Single Node shared memory models as well as on SX-4 Series Multi Node distributed memory models."

DNFL numerical software is designed to exploit MPI technology, which offers developers an effective path to upgrade legacy applications that increase utility and performance, even on very powerful systems.

"It is important to us that our customers receive the best possible return on their investments in hardware and software for high performance computing," said Ted Charter, Executive Vice President of Visual Numerics. "Key to this return is the acquisition of hardware and software which are capable of growing with the customers needs. The NEC SX Series and the IMSL Distributed Network Fortran Library (DNFL) from Visual Numerics offer our customers not only speed and accuracy but also scalability to expand with our customers demand to solve larger and more complex problems in a cost effective manner."

DNFL also provides functionality for dynamic error processing for distributed systems. This ensures accurate error handling during parallel execution. Linear operators and generic functions provide a natural programming interface for easy and intuitive application development. Finally, automatic access to the distributed network permits effortless information to pass with no manual moving of the data.

About Visual Numerics Visual Numerics has been providing industry leading software for more than 25 years. Founded in 1970 as IMSL, Inc., Visual Numerics was formed in December 1992 as a result of the merger of Houston-based IMSL and Boulder, Colorado-based Precision Visuals, Inc. The company provides mission-critical decision support software tools for enterprise solutions in business, engineering, research and education worldwide. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Visual Numerics is a privately held company with offices in France, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, Mexico, Korea and the United Kingdom, in addition to an extensive distributor network.

About NEC NEC Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's largest computer, semiconductor, and communications systems manufacturers. NEC supercomputer products are sold and supported in North America by HNSX Supercomputers Inc., a subsidiary headquartered in Littleton, MA, in the European region by NEC European Supercomputer System Operations which has offices in Germany, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, and by NEC Australia in Oceania.

All trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners.

Copyright (C) 1998 Visual Numerics, Inc.(R)

    CONTACT: Visual Numerics, Inc.
              Diana Booth
              Marketing Communications Manager
              [phone]
              [e-mail]
                     or
              Visual Numerics, Inc.
              Technical Contact: Mr. Tim Leite
              Director: Computational Technologies
              [phone]
              [e-mail]
                     or
              www.vni.com