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A Cluster Of Pocket PCs

Posted by timothy on from the can-this-really-be-the-first dept.

Don Stratton writes "This is the coolest thing I have seen anyone do with a Pocket PC... ever! Well-known Pocket PC developers SPB Software House, located in Russia, have come up with a very interesting spin on computing clusters. The short version is they connected 12 Pocket PCs together in the first known 'supercomputer cluster' of its type and had it calculate the old '3n + 1' problem. It was just done for fun, and not intended to seriously compete with desktop computers, but it does point out some interesting possiblilities for the future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters."

6 of 119 comments (clear)

  1. How do you? by koali · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Parallelize 3n+1? It looks like it cannot be parallelized. On the other hand, they could try several different starting n's at once, but that is not very interesting...

    1. Re:How do you? by Ass,+Ltd.+Ho! · · Score: 5, Interesting
      The answer to your question is really kind of interesting. I came across it while searching through some japanese documents at the university of Nagasaki.

      instead of taking the "multiple-serializing" approach you suggest, you begin by using the output of your first transform filter as a sort of "seed" to feed groups of parallel "second-tier" transform filters. Once you've done that, you can see how it is easy to fan those outputs out and iterate into third or fourth-tier (obviously, that's a LOT of pocket PC's!) transform filters. As the filters each work their way through seed data, they each begin to converge toward (notice i didn't say TO) a solution. You then use what the japanese called a "recompositing Reimann filter" to sort of sift your way from the multi-tiered parallel seed results back into a final solution.

      It's very elegant, IMHO.

      --
      HO
  2. Sounds like a dot-com VC funding pitch... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting
    it does point out some interesting possiblilities for the future of handhelds with wireless connectivity working in ad-hoc computing clusters


    That or report for a MBA marketing buzzword course.

  3. We reciently decomissioned our first webserver... by Matey-O · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm talking to a cubiclemate about it and said "Do ya wanna see the computational horsepower of the server we just turned off?"

    And held up my old iPaq and new iPaq. (The server was a dual PPro 200.)

    --
    "Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus."
  4. Re:The "3n + 1" Problem by mcmonkey · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The 4,2,1 loop repeats over and over, so it's usually convenient to terminate the process once it is entered. All numbers tested so far eventually hit this loop, although it has not been proven that all numbers do.

    -1, -2, -1, -2, ...

  5. Similar to blue gene... by gnuadam · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This sort of reminds me of what they're doing with blue gene. Instead of using hot, ultra fast processors, they're using what amounts to 2 embeded processors per node and depending on kick ass networking to carry the load.

    For parallel problems, sometimes faster processors is not better...

    --
    You say :wq, I say ZZ. Why can't we all just get along?