Algorithm 818

Abstract

The Basic Linear Algebra Subprograms for sparse matrices (Sparse BLAS) as defined by the BLAS Technical Forum are a set of routines providing basic operations for sparse matrices and vectors. A principal goal of the Sparse BLAS standard is to aid in the development of iterative solvers for large sparse linear systems by specifying on the one hand interfaces for a high-level description of vector and matrix operations for the algorithm developer and on the other hand leaving enough freedom for vendors to provide the most efficient implementation of the underlying algorithms for their specific architectures.The Sparse BLAS standard defines interfaces and bindings for the three target languages: C, Fortran 77 and Fortran 95. We describe here our Fortran 95 implementation intended as a reference model for the Sparse BLAS. We identify the underlying complex issues of the representation and the handling of sparse matrices and give suggestions to other implementors of how to address them.