Numerical Mathematics Consortium Updates Open Standard for Algorithm Development

“The Numerical Mathematics Consortium has made significant progress since introducing the original technical specification,” said John Pasquarette, NI Director of Software Marketing. “The new revision reflects the consortium’s efforts to bridge theory to real-world applications as well as expand the opportunity for others to get involved. Recent efforts of the consortium provide a powerful framework for future development.”

The founding companies of the Numerical Mathematics Consortium – which include INRIA, Maplesoft, Mathsoft recently acquired by PTC and National Instruments – established the organisation in 2005 to create a specification that facilitates reuse and portability of numeric algorithms. To reach this goal, the organisation is initially focusing on standardizing a core set of mathematical functions that can be used in a wide variety of application areas such as industrial control, embedded design and scientific research, as well as be easily reused by researchers and developers in industry and academia.

The newly resolved technical issues address practical topics related to algorithm design and compliance with the standard. The resolved issues cover topics such as when to specify vector orientation, how to support vectorisation, what it means to be compliant and how to choose a semantic representation. Settling these technical issues provides guidelines that improve the rate of progress for new function adoption.

With the newly resolved technical issues and ratified functions in place, the revised standard establishes a framework encouraging both academic and industry participation in influencing the standard. The Numerical Mathematics Consortium is actively seeking new membership of individuals and organisations interested in influencing an important standardisation effort that encourages code reuse and portability.

The latest revision of the standard, which documents the newly resolved technical issues and ratified functions, is available for download from the Numerical Mathematics Consortium Web site, www.nmconsortium.org. This site provides additional information about the standard and offers information about how organisations and individuals can get involved.

The Numerical Mathematics Consortium is a nonprofit organisation comprising vendors and individuals in industry and academia committed to establishing an open mathematical semantics standard for numerical algorithm development and reuse. Focused on reducing the overall cost of numerical algorithm development and reuse in different disciplines, the Numerical Mathematics Consortium is committed to ensuring algorithm portability through standardising core mathematical definitions, algorithm interchangeability and function semantics.

The consortium’s charter document, founding member companies and testimonials from advisors and member companies are available at www.nmconsortium.org Organisations and individuals interested in taking an active role in standardising numerical mathematics can visit the Web site for information about joining the consortium.