PLAPACK Parallel Linear Algebra Package Design Overview

The Parallel Linear Algebra Package (PLAPACK) is a maturing fourth generation linear algebra infrastructure which uses a application-centric view of vector and matrix distribution, Physically Based Matrix Distribution. It also uses an "MPI-like" programming interface that hides distribution and indexing details in opaque objects, provides a natural layering in the library, and provides a straight-forward application interface. We give an overview of the design of PLAPACK.