From help-request at octave dot org Mon Apr 11 04:18:18 2005 Subject: Re: [OctDev] random numbers for distributed computations From: David Bateman To: Michael Creel Cc: octave-forge list , Octave Help Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 11:14:06 +0200 Michael Creel wrote: >Hello, >I'm planning on implementing some method to ensure that random number streams >generated on different nodes of a cluster are independent of one another. >This is important for problems such as Monte Carlo. Before I start, I'd like >to hear advice, suggestions, requests. Thanks, Michael > > >------------------------------------------------------- >SF email is sponsored by - The IT Product Guide >Read honest & candid reviews on hundreds of IT Products from real users. >Discover which products truly live up to the hype. Start reading now. >http://ads.osdn.com/?ad_id=6595&alloc_id=14396&op=click >_______________________________________________ >Octave-dev mailing list >Octave-dev at lists dot sourceforge dot net >https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/octave-dev > > > If your platform as /dev/urandom, then the octave-forge random generators will use it to seed the generators, and you will end up with independent number streams. Even if you don't have /dev/urandom, then these generators use the LSB of the clock to seed with (ie. usec) and so you'll probably find yourself with independent streams in any case. So my advice is to use the octave-forge generators... D. -- David Bateman David dot Bateman at motorola dot com Motorola Labs - Paris +33 1 69 35 48 04 (Ph) Parc Les Algorithmes, Commune de St Aubin +33 1 69 35 77 01 (Fax) 91193 Gif-Sur-Yvette FRANCE The information contained in this communication has been classified as: [x] General Business Information [ ] Motorola Internal Use Only [ ] Motorola Confidential Proprietary ------------------------------------------------------------- Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL. Octave's home on the web: http://www.octave.org How to fund new projects: http://www.octave.org/funding.html Subscription information: http://www.octave.org/archive.html -------------------------------------------------------------