Triggering a Parallel Computation

STK Parallel Computing compute options are available for:

When you select the STK Parallel Cluster option, STK saves the current state of your scenario to a temporary VDF, worker processes are started on the local machine or on the cluster machine depending on your configuration, and then results are sent back to STK. You can cancel the computation using the regular STOP button in the STK status bar. Also additional information, warnings and error messages may be displayed in the STK message viewer.

Chain Access

To use parallel computing on a Chain object, select Chain-> Compute Accesses in Parallel from the object's right-click menu or context menu. Chain objects remember how accesses were last computed. Any re-computation of accesses due to changed made to other objects in the scenario use the same method (single process or in parallel).

Coverage and Figure of Merit

To use parallel computing on a Coverage object, select CoverageDefinition->Compute Accesses in Parallel from the object's right-click menu or context menu.

Coverage objects remember how accesses were last computed. Any re-computation of accesses due to changes made to other objects in the scenario use the same method (single process or in parallel) as before.

The figure of merit static values are also computed in parallel if one of the following is true:

  • The data retention mode on coverage is set to [Static Data Only].
  • The figure of merit object has 2D or 3D graphics visible.
  • The "Compute all figures of merit in parallel with their parent coverage" option is selected for Compute Options on the STK Parallel Cluster preferences window.

When a figure of merit object needs to be recomputed by itself, it is computed in parallel only if it is one of the expansive figure of merit types:

  • AccessConstraint
  • NavigationAccuracy
  • DilutionOfPrecision

Deck Access

To use parallel computing for Deck Access, select Deck Access... from an object's right-click menu or from the Analysis menu (on the Menu bar), and select Compute in Parallel on the Deck Access window.

Record a Movie

To use parallel computing while recording a movie, there is a checkbox on the Record page of the Movie Timeline Wizard.

  • The best performance improvements from recording in parallel occur when recording scenarios where each animation time step is computationally expensive.
  • If STK Parallel Computing is configured in Local mode, using fewer cores (e.g. four (4) instead of eight (8)) can reduce the pressure on certain hardware components (CPU, GPU, disk, memory) that may be a bottleneck. This could speed up operations.
  • If STK Parallel Computing is configured in Cluster mode, the worker processes on any Agents that are running as Windows services may not be able to access the GPU based on the machine specific video card and drivers. If you notice any visual artifacts or truncated frames in a video recorded in parallel, try running the Agent Service executable from the command line instead of as a Windows service.
  • A scenario's graphical persistence settings affect the performance of recording in parallel. If the persistence value for a sensor's footprint projection or an object's visible vectors/axes is long in duration compared to the overall recording period, it limits the benefits of recording in parallel.

Volumetric

To use parallel computing on a Volumetric object, select Volumetric->Compute in Parallel from the object's right-click menu or context menu.

Automatic Compute Option

In addition, you can activate a mode to automatically compute in parallel. That option is available in Edit/Preferences and also on the STK Parallel Computing toolbar.

With the option to automatically compute in parallel, the regular STK menus and buttons always compute in parallel. A benefit of using that option is that STK will perform computations in parallel even when the computations occur due to a change of a dependent object in the scenario.

Canceling a Computation

During a parallel computation, you can cancel the computation using the regular STOP button in the STK status bar. Also additional information, warnings and error messages may be displayed in the STK message viewer.