The results obtained from this project will fundamentally change the way we look at computer performance analysis. These results are made possible by the precise definition of a consistent system of measurement with a set of primary units designed specifically for computer performance analysis. This system of units, along with their associated dimensions, allows us to apply the methods of dimensional analysis, based on the Pi Theorem, to define scaling and self-similarity relationships. These relationships reveal new insights into experimental results that otherwise seems only vaguely correlated. Applying the method to cache-miss data revealed scaling relationships that were not seen by those who originally collected the data. Applying dimensional analysis to the performance of parallel numerical algorithms revealed that computational force is a unifying concept for understanding the interaction between hardware and software. The efficiency of these algorithms depends, in a very intimate way, on the balance between hardware forces and software forces. Analysis of five different algorithms showed that performance analysis can be reduced to a study of the differential geometry of the efficiency surface. Each algorithm defines a set of curvilinear coordinates, specific to that algorithm, and different machines follow different paths along the surface depending on the …

In the United States, the general rule, which derives from common law, is that each side in a legal proceeding pays for its own attorney. There are many exceptions, however, in which federal courts, and occasionally federal agencies, may order the losing party to pay the attorneys' fees of the prevailing party. There are roughly two hundred statutory exceptions, which were generally enacted to encourage private litigation to implement public policy.

The Nevada Test Site-Directed Research and Development (SDRD) program completed a very successful year of research and development activities in FY 2007. Twenty-nine new projects were selected for funding this year, and eight projects started in FY 2006 were brought to conclusion. The total funds expended by the SDRD program were $5.67 million, for an average per-project cost of $153 thousand. An external audit conducted in September 2007 verified that appropriate accounting practices were applied to the SDRD program. Highlights for the year included: programmatic adoption of 8 SDRD-developed technologies; the filing of 9 invention disclosures for innovation evolving from SDRD projects; participation in the tri-Lab Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) and SDRD Symposium that was broadly attended by Nevada Test Site (NTS), National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), LDRD, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) representatives; peer reviews of all FY 2007 projects; and the successful completion of 37 R&D projects, as presented in this report. In response to a company-wide call, authors throughout the NTS complex submitted 182 proposals for FY 2007 SDRD projects. The SDRD program has seen a dramatic increase in the yearly total of submitted proposals--from 69 in FY …