Glossary



Symbols used in glossary:

() - optional or extending
[] - abbreviation
/ - alternative
* - place where expression occurs
() - equivalent
see () - description in equivalent


application (of kernel) - a complete preparation of kernel for solving a given problem

architecture - a type of hardware (e.g. SUN, SGI)

component (application process) - a system part with specific function

run-time * - a standalone program that communicates with the system kernel (runs together with the kernel)

input * - a program that prepares data for the kernel (runs before kernel run)

output * - a program that displays the resulting data

change - every change in the genes bit array is considered as a change

diffusion method of parallelization - a parallelization technique of genetic algorithm

environment variables - standard system environment variables

fitness - a function that says how good the gene is

* value - the fitness function result for the specific gene

* function - same as fitness

* expression - an expression that describes the fitness

GAdualtable - an operator with two sets of GAtools

GAfunction - a binary genetic operator

GAselector (selector) - an operator enabling selection of genes from one population to second one

GAtable - an operator with a set of GAtools

GAtool (operator) - a general genetic operator

GAunom - an unary genetic operator

gene - a string of bits that storing the problem specifications

* evaluation - the fitness calculating for specific gene

* encoding/coding/decoding - an encoding of information into gene and back

* part - a part of gene that stores one specification

grid (of places) - the structure of a sub population used by the diffusion method

HID - host ID (created by PVM)

kernel - the program that computes genetic algorithm

* process - is either a parent or a child process

kernel info - a piece of information about the kernel

global * [GKI] - a piece of global information based upon local information

local * [LKI] - a piece of child process information

layer (of process) - a layer in process architecture

external * - the highest layer in process hierarchy, implements parallelization

monitoring - continuous displaying of information

named constant - a constant that has its name defined

neural network - a network of neurons used for pattern recognition and recall

* training - adjusting of network parameters with the aim to minimize the difference between desired and actual network output

training set/file - a set of training patterns

training pattern - input values and corresponding desired outputs

* checking - the process of checking whether the network is trained well

checking set/file - same as training set but for used for checking

* recall - a pattern recognition

(input/output/hidden) layer - a subset of neurons in a layered neural network

(input/output/hidden) neuron - a basic computing unit in a neural network

object hierarchy - the graph of objects and their dependencies

operator see GAtool

operation - every (mostly) GAtool execution is considered as an operation. Exceptions are: GAselectors, GAtables and some others (Empty, Copy, Move).

parameter - the basic information unit in ParamFile

* file - the text file, that contains the parameters

group of *s - a named group of parameters in ParamFile/parameter file

ParamFile object - the structure that represents parameter file in the memory

directive - some instruction to be done, when the ParamFile is created from a parameter file

PID - the process ID (created by PVM)

population - a set of genes

subpopulation - a part of a population

problem - a task to solve

* specification - problem parameters

solution candidate see gene

process - a running program (of our system)

child * - a process spawned by parent, provides the actual genetic optimalisation

parent * - the main process in kernel

application * see (component)

* architecture - the specific object hierarchy used in the process

PVM - Parallel Virtual Machine; name of the parallel system implementation on a network of workstations

* configuration - the set of hosts and processes hosted


* daemon - the main process in PVM communication

* console - the program that starts after "pvm" command

selector see GAselector

serialization - a technique that enables object transfer through the PVM

special tag (of message) - the message sub-type ID

tag (of message) - the message ID

termination condition - a condition that (if satisfied) terminates the program

type map - a description of data types for a set of data, result of an object serialization

user level - level of user's request

high-level - low experienced user

middle-level - experienced user

low-level - programmers only

view mode - the mode of information displaying

Project Antares