Re: Pi to 10 trillion places

In article <43da5ba1$0$45181$892e7fe2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Boris Uion <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> "Ronald Bruck" <bruck@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:270120060815543687%bruck@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > In article <43da2db7$0$85453$892e7fe2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
> > Boris Uon <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> >> <robin.bruce@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:1138368257.710242.37420@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >> > No,
> >> >
> >> > I've not done it, but just looking at a graph for pi of decimal places
> >> > versus time (in years). It looks like we're due another step up from
> >> > Kanada's 1.2 trillion places in 2002. Anyone know who's working on this
> >> > stuff and how they're progressing? What's the major challenge to
> >> > overcome? Is it concepts in computer arithmetic that are lacking? Is it
> >> > the difficulties in co-ordinating the multiple processing elements
> >> > required or are there fundamental barriers in theory to be overcome? Is
> >> > it a weighted combination of the three?
> >> >
> >> > I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone developing
> >> > FPGA-based supercomputing nodes with an interest in potential future
> >> > applications.
> >> >
> >> > Cheers,
> >> >
> >> > Robin Bruce
> >> >
> >>
> >> There is no money to fund it. There is no need for it. Where would
> >> you
> >> put it? How could you check it?
> >
> > No intrinsic need, indeed. But my understanding is that the driving
> > force behind these extended calculations is the need to test new
> > hardware. If I run the calculation on new hardware to 2 trillion
> > places, and it agrees with the previous 1.2-trillion place record, then
> > the chances are very good that there are no hardware bugs.
> >
> > --Ron Bruck
>
> but, how you gonna check that it is right?
> and what do you mean "hardware" at the chip level it is just accumulator,
> and low level firmware,
> nothing requiring advance technology.

If it agrees with the previous result to the original number of
significant figures, the probability that the full result is correct is
overwhelming.

As for "accumulator and low level firmware"... Ever hear of the
Pentium FP bug?

--Ron Bruck
.

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