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Subject: Re: interesting idea

Author: Rolf Tueschen

Date: 10:12:37 09/07/02

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On September 07, 2002 at 10:19:46, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On September 07, 2002 at 06:28:52, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>
>>On September 06, 2002 at 21:42:17, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>
>>>On September 06, 2002 at 16:26:14, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>>
>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 15:55:09, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 15:41:41, Rolf Tueschen wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 15:28:09, Sune Fischer wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 14:38:15, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 14:17:59, Sune Fischer wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>On September 06, 2002 at 11:53:13, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>I have posted the raw data logs, the "cooked data" that I extracted from the
>>>>>>>>>>logs, and the speedup tables (those for Martin last nite).  It might be
>>>>>>>>>>interesting to take the cb.c program I also posted and change the speedup
>>>>>>>>>>format to show 3 decimel places (I used 2 as Martin had suggested that would
>>>>>>>>>>be better.)
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>It would be interesting to run the program with 1, 2 and 3 decimel place
>>>>>>>>>>accuracy, and let everyone look at the three tables and decide which one
>>>>>>>>>>_really_ provides the most useful information.  I'll bet everyone likes
>>>>>>>>>>.1 better than .11 because is .01 really significant?  Or is it just random
>>>>>>>>>>noise?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>To a numerical scientist (as I'm sure you know) the numbers 1.8 and 1.80 are not
>>>>>>>>>identical, 1.80 is ten times more accurate, and that is a powerful statement in
>>>>>>>>>itself.
>>>>>>>>>To produce such a number you need to (a) run a larger experiment and do some
>>>>>>>>>statistics to get an average or (b) get some better and probably a lot more
>>>>>>>>>expensive equipment (higher resolution mass-spectrometers, or whatever the
>>>>>>>>>situation may call for), though in this case (a) seems like the only option.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>(a) was the course I took in my dissertation, but I had a 30 processor
>>>>>>>>sequent that was basically "mine" for several months so running thousands
>>>>>>>>of tests was not impossible.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>However, doesn't that leave the data open to the same criticism as the data
>>>>>>>>in my dts JICCA article?  (that the data is not "raw")??  Because it will
>>>>>>>>be an average, and that will make it look artificial...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>So back we go again?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Sorry, I'm not fully up to speed here because I haven't read all of the threads,
>>>>>>>so my comment was more of a general nature :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>But I'd say it depends on what you want to show, if you have bunch of positions
>>>>>>>that you want to know the speedup for, and you know that every time you run it
>>>>>>>you get something sligthly different. Then, you have no choice but to roundoff
>>>>>>>to lose a few of the inaccurate digits, or alternatively do additional work to
>>>>>>>make sure you get the digits right.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>There seems to be little point in using a number of 1.983432 for a speedup, if
>>>>>>>the next run will produce 1.9348284 and the next 1.96347823 etc., it looks
>>>>>>>rather silly doesn't it :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Personally I would rather be presented with a clean average number of 1.94, or
>>>>>>>even 1.9 or 2.0.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>I've always used "averages" but for the DTS paper it was simply impossible.
>>>>>>>>You might Call someone up like say "united computing" in texas and ask what
>>>>>>>>they would have charged for a few months time on a dedicated C90.  :)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>That is a dilemma, of course if you have no grasp what so ever on how much the
>>>>>>>error is, you have a problem. So to be safe, it is better to use less digits ;)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Anyway, this is all something that can be read in any introductury data analysis
>>>>>>>book, here is something I found on google:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>"From the mathematical standpoint, the precision of a number resulting from
>>>>>>>measurement depends upon the number of decimal places; that is, a larger number
>>>>>>>of decimal places means a smaller probable error. In 2.3 inches the probable
>>>>>>>error is 0.05 inch, since 2.3 actually lies somewhere between 2.25 and 2.35. In
>>>>>>>1.426 inches there is a much smaller probable error of 0.0005 inch. If we add
>>>>>>>2.300 + 1.426 and get an answer in thousandths, the answer, 3.726 inches, would
>>>>>>>appear to be precise to thousandths; but this is not true since there was a
>>>>>>>probable error of .05 in one of the addends. Also 2.300 appears to be precise to
>>>>>>>thousandths but in this example it is precise only to tenths. It is evident that
>>>>>>>the precision of a sum is no greater than the precision of the least precise
>>>>>>>addend. It can also be shown that the precision of a difference is no greater
>>>>>>>than the less precise number compared.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>To add or subtract numbers of different orders, all numbers should first be
>>>>>>>rounded off to the order of the least precise number. In the foregoing example,
>>>>>>>1.426 should be rounded to tenths-that is, 1.4."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>http://www.tpub.com/math1/7b.htm
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>(some great semantics at the very bottom:)
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>-S.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Chapter three:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Bob, how you could say that speed-up was measured? Isn't it a factor and
>>>>>>therefore calculated?  come back to my first statement!
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Rolf Tueschen
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>OK... a terminology issue.  Board A is 2 feet long.  Board B is 3 feet long.
>>>>>How long are both?
>>>>>
>>>>>measured:  put 'em end to end and let a tape show 5'???
>>>>>
>>>>>calculated:  measure each one and add the two lengths which shows 5'???
>>>>>
>>>>>The speedups were calculated, but there is an exact relationship between the
>>>>>time taken to search with 1 processor vs the time taken to search with N
>>>>>processors.  Speedup is defined to be that ratio.  IE the speedup was not
>>>>>extrapolated, or calculated by finagling with various things like NPS, time,
>>>>>outside temp, cpu mhz, etc.  It is just a direct result of dividing measured
>>>>>number A into measured number B.
>>>>>
>>>>>Whether that quotient is "measured" or "calculated" seems to be moot since it
>>>>>will be the _same_ result...???
>>>>
>>>>I'm getting older each day...
>>>>
>>>>But speed-up is a factor and _not_ seconds. Ok, this might be unimportant here.
>>>>We're surely not searching for Newton's constants. Since we are depending on
>>>>chess positions as you've said yourself. So we can't have 'exact' relationships.
>>>>
>>>>Rolf Tueschen
>>>
>>>
>>>Here we do.  IE, the one cpu run takes two minutes.  The two cpu run takes
>>>one minute.  The speedup is 2.0, which is produced by dividing the 1cpu time
>>>by the 2cpu time.  In fact, that is the only way to get a speedup since you
>>>really can't "observe" such a thing in raw form because it is a comparison
>>>between two separate events...
>>>
>>>But it can't possibly change unless one of the times changes.  And if one of
>>>the times changes, then the speedup changes too.
>>>
>>>The exception occurs with rounding errors.  And with the times vs speedup,
>>>as there are an infinite number of pairs of times that will pruduce a specific
>>>speedup.
>>
>>Actually I was "defending" you against Sune. He advised you to consider the
>>number of the digits, talking about measurement. From the internet files...
>>What I was trying to say was that the speedup is a ratio and no measurement. And
>>that depending of the positions (chess) this ratio would vary. So, here I give a
>>first point to Vincent. To do exact research we must analyse how far chess does
>>influence the speedup! I think that we could still continue the debate. Or is
>>your paper already history and the actual problems are different ones?
>
>Parallel search behaves differently for different "games" because the games
>themselves are different and the resulting trees also.  IE in my dissertation,
>I also fooled with "uniform game trees" which are trees with constant depth
>rather than what we do in chess.  I also tested "perfect ordered" trees as well.
>And the speedups can vary wildly.  IE with perfectly ordered trees (impossible
>to do in chess or any real game) my old DTS algorithm got almost perfect
>speedups with 16 cpus.  With pure minimax (worst-first ordering using
>alpha/beta) it also got almost perfect speedup.  But for normal chess trees,
>it dropped off to about 9.0/16...

Just a new question (one of the meta department). When or where will be the
point when you finally gave your ultimate explanation? <g>
I ask because you always surprise me with deep and deeper specifications. When
could we ever say, well, now we know it all? Or is it the 'never-ending story'?


>
>
>
>>I had a
>>different impression when reading V.  First: Are you sure that 24 different
>>positions would lead you to the same speed-ups? What, if certain positions allow
>>a gain for particular ncpu? Questions over questions.
>
>
>I don't think I said that I was sure that 24 different positions would lead to
>the same speedups.  However, I am _certain_ that there are 24 different
>positions that will produce the same speedup for N cpus.  Finding them is a
>NP-type problem however since chess is exponential.

What I asked was if _any_ sample of new 24 positions wouldlead to the same
speed-ups. Of course you might finddoubles, but I didn't mean it. But the main
interest was if certain tendences (tactical, quiet etc.) could influence your
numbers.


>
>This non-deterministic behavior is what makes parallel search so difficult,
>and which makes two different programs so hard to compare in that regard.

Ah yes, I see, so there can't be the answer to my former question! And still,we
must do the research on inhospitable terrain too!

Rolf Tueschen


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>>Rolf Tueschen



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