Aqwa can take advantage of multi-core machines to improve computational speed during the solution stages. For more information, see Aqwa Parallel Processing Calculation in the Aqwa Theory Manual. There are several ways to determine and specify the number of cores to be used in a given analysis.
When the Aqwa Editor is opened for the first time after installation, it automatically detects the number of processing cores that exist on the node on which it is run. The number is set as the default value for the Maximum Program Controlled Number of Cores option, which can be found in the Edit > Options > Aqwa > Analysis menu.
Note: The Maximum Program Controlled Number of Cores is set to the maximum number of physical cores on your machine. You cannot request more than this number of cores.
If you manually set Maximum Number of Program Controlled Cores to 0, or a number greater than the total number of cores in the node, the Aqwa Editor will reset the value of Maximum Number of Program Controlled Cores to the default value.
Note: The Number of Processors option, found under Edit > Options > Common Settings > Parallel Processing, is not used by the Aqwa Editor at any stage.
If you click Reset in the Edit > Options window, the Maximum Number of Program Controlled Cores will be set to 0 and the behavior described above will apply.
Within each analysis system, under Analysis Settings, there is a Parallel Processing drop down menu. This menu has three options: Serial, Manual Definition, and Program Controlled (default).
Setting Parallel Processing to Program Controlled causes the Aqwa Editor to automatically determine how many cores to request during the solve process. The number of requested cores varies depending on the Computation Type, and on whether the analysis includes dynamic cables and/or tethers, etc. See Aqwa Parallel Processing Calculation in the Aqwa Theory Manual for a table of actual number of cores used in different Aqwa analysis cases.
Setting Parallel Processing to Serial causes the Aqwa Editor to request a single core for that analysis, regardless of Computation Type.
Setting Parallel Processing to Manual Definition shows an additional Requested Number of Cores option. This field accepts any value greater than 0 and less than or equal to the number of physical cores in the node. Setting a value outside of this range will result in an error and will prevent the solve process from executing. Setting a value that is higher than the value that would be used if Parallel Processing were set to Program Controlled will result in an informational message in the log.
Note: Changing Parallel Processing or Requested Number of Cores does not invalidate an up-to-date solution.
The Maximum Program Controlled Number of Cores option is a global setting for the machine, it is not saved within a project file or reset between projects. The Parallel Processing and Requested Number of Cores options are project specific and are saved in the project file.
Although the number of available HPC licenses may change due to the activity of other users within your organization, the Aqwa Editor itself does not perform the licensing check. The Aqwa solver performs the check when you execute the solve process. The number of cores used in the computation may be less than the number requested (automatically or manually), depending on the number of available licenses.