No abstract available.

The authors propose that the process of sorting be more formally adopted as a performance benchmark for commercial supercomputer applications. To this end they have investigated the use of entropy as a measure of data distribution and propose that it, along with larger datasets, be added to existing sorting benchmarks (such as NAS). Some of the key points in adopting such a benchmark are presented, and the results of applying such a benchmark to the CM-5 supercomputer are discussed. As a result of carefully examining this problem, the authors were able to sort 1 billion 32-b keys in less than 17 s on a 1024 processor CM-5.>

The authors consider the problem of estimating the testability of a digital circuit at the functional level. Using an information-theoretic approach, they have developed a functional testability measure for both controllability and observability. They introduce two techniques that can efficiently and accurately estimate the measure. In addition, some applications of the testability measure for automated design for testability, such as automatic circuit partitioning and test point insertion, are described.>