Implementation and Evaluation of a Mainframe Dependent Program (NEC3) on a Personal Computer (PC).
Abstract
The purpose of this thesis was to determine if recent improvements in the computing power of Personal Computers (PCs) have made them a viable alternative to the larger, multi-user oriented computers, better known as mainframes. The Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC3), a 10,000 line Fortran program, was down-loaded from the Naval Postgraduate School's IBM 3033AP mainframe and implemented on various PC systems. The systems considered were the IBM RT PC (using IBM RT PC VS FORTRAN), a Definicon DSI-780 Coprocessor Board (using SVS FORTRAN), and a Compaq Deskpro 386/20 AT PC (using NDP FORTRAN-386). Using NEC3 example problems, comparisons of speed and accuracy were made between the PCs and the mainframe. Results show that the Compaq Deskpro 386/20, with a Weitek 1167 math coprocessor, using Micro Way's NDP FORTRAN-386 (32-bit Fortran compiler), can be used to implement NEC3 on a PC. Performance times for the Deskpro (w/1167) were only 20% to 25% slower than the mainframe's. Due to the Weitek's internal accuracy (single precision), solutions of the NEC3 examples were comparable to the mainframe's only for simple problems. As the complexity of the NEC3 problems increased, the error due to the Weitek's single precision calculations also increased. It is assumed that the reader is currently knowledgeable on the use of IBM AT PC or compatible and the reader is familiar with the PC's Disk Operating System (DOS).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA205929
Entities
People
- Timothy M. O'hara
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School