Patent ID: 7543184

Claim:
A method for distributing system tests in a parallel computing environment that includes a plurality of parallel computing units, the method comprising: providing a first parallel computing unit; providing a second parallel computing unit in communication with the first parallel computing unit; receiving a first test vector for use in performing a system test executed on the first and second parallel computing units; receiving a second test vector for use in performing the system test, the second test vector including an identifier that identifies the second test vector as a distributed array data type; distributing the first test vector to the first and second parallel computing units for simultaneous execution; processing the identifier to determine whether the second test vector should be distributed to one or more of the first parallel computing unit and the second parallel computing unit; distributing the second test vector to the determined one or more of the first parallel computing unit and the second parallel computing unit; and performing the system test: using the first test vector executing on the first parallel computing unit and the second parallel computing unit, and using the second test vector executing on the determined one or more of the first parallel computing unit and the second parallel computing unit.