New Solver version 9.5 Products for Excel

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25 June, 2009

New 9.5 versions of Risk Solver Platform, Premium Solver Platform, Premium Solver, Risk Solver Premium and Risk Solver are a major new release, with a deeply parallelised software design to exploit the multi-core processors in modern PCs that allow analysis and solving of larger models faster than ever before.

Exploiting Multi-Core Processors

All parallelised algorithms are available in Risk Solver Platform and some are also available in Premium Solver Platform.

  • Multi-Core Monte Carlo Simulation:  Risk Solver Platform v9.5 will exploit multiple processor cores to further accelerate its already-fast vectorised Monte Carlo simulation.
  • Multi-Core Simulation Optimisation:  Risk Solver Platform v9.5 will also exploit multiple processor cores to speed up simulation optimisation – typically the most computationally-intensive method used to solve optimisation problems.
  • Multi-Core Global Optimisation:  When you use the Multistart methods for global optimisation with the GRG Nonlinear, LSGRG, LSSQP or KNITRO Solvers, Risk Solver Platform v9.5 will exploit multiple processor cores to run multiple nonlinear optimisations in parallel.
  • Multi-Core Nonlinear Optimisation:  When you solve a single smooth nonlinear optimisation with the GRG Nonlinear, LSGRG, LSSQP or KNITRO Solvers, Risk Solver Platform v9.5 is significantly faster. It exploits multiple processor cores to speed up gradient computations via parallelised automatic differentiation.
  • Multi-Core Mixed Integer Nonlinear Solutions:  Risk Solver Platform v9.5’s standard branch and bound algorithm, used by the GRG Nonlinear, LSGRG and LSSQP Solvers, has been parallelised to exploit multiple processor cores on mixed-integer nonlinear (MINLP) problems.
  • Multi-Core Non-Smooth Optimisation:  Risk Solver Platform v9.5 provides parallelised function evaluation and parallelised local search. These are exploited in a major way by the redesigned Evolutionary Solver (see below).


Faster Solver Engines

Several of the built-in solvers and plug-in solver engines in version 9.5 feature algorithmic improvements that speed up solutions.  Risk Solver Platform v9.5 also removes or reduces bottlenecks that existed in v9.0 due to progress reporting in the Task Pane.  Many models will solve faster in v9.5.

LP/Quadratic Solver

The LP/Quadratic Solver in Risk Solver Platform and Premium Solver Platform includes a wide range of improvements in presolving, preprocessing, cut generation and heuristics for LP/MIP problems.  These methods are now automatically selected, making them much easier to use.

Now you set just three LP/Quadratic Solver options (Preprocessing, Cuts, and Heuristics) to gain the benefit of these methods.  For each of these options, you can select None, Automatic, or Aggressive.  Each choice activates specific combinations of methods that have been found effective on many models.

With LP/MIP problems, performance is model-dependent. However, you can expect significant speed improvements on your LP/MIP problems.  It is expected that many models will solve twice as fast as in v9.0.

GRG Nonlinear Solver

The GRG algorithms have not been changed, but solution times with the GRG Solver in Risk Solver Platform and Premium Solver Platform are significantly improved thanks to the following developments:  parallelised automatic differentiation, parallelised branch and bound for MINLP problems and parallelised multistart start for global optimisation problems.  On a quad-core PC, it is expected that many models will solve twice as fast as in v9.0.

Evolutionary Solver

The Evolutionary Solver has been redesigned to deeply exploit the search possibilities afforded by multiple processor cores.  In addition to improvements in its algorithms, balance of effort heuristics and stopping rules, the Evolutionary Solver in Risk Solver Platform and Premium Solver Platform now uses a parallelised and vectorised global search as well as a parallelised local search to find much better solutions.

As with any NSP problems, performance is model-dependent but solution times are significantly improved.  On a quad-core PC, it is expected that solutions are found at least twice as fast on many models. Some models will see better solutions at speeds 10 times faster or more.

New Sensitivity Analysis Features

Risk Solver Platform v9.5 and all of its subset products include new facilities for sensitivity analysis of your Excel model that can be used before even starting an optimisation or simulation run. It is especially easy to identify the model parameters that have the most impact on your computed results. You can simply select any formula cell, and choose Parameters > Identify from the Ribbon to quickly determine the input cells with the greatest impact on this formula. The cells are ranked and shown in a Tornado chart.

You can choose some of these input cells to serve as Sensitivity Parameters and produce reports as well as charts. These reports and charts show the impact on computed results when varying parameters over some range. You can also turn these parameters into Simulation or Optimisation Parameters when producing simulation reports and charts.


New Decision Tree Features

New in Risk Solver Platform V9.5 (only) is a facility to create decision trees on your Excel spreadsheet. Using the Ribbon, you can easily create decision nodes/branches, event nodes/branches and terminal nodes.  The tree is drawn in graphical form on the spreadsheet. Standard Excel worksheet formulas then compute rollback values at each node and the best-choice value at the root node. Computations are based on either expected value or utility function (certainty equivalent) criteria. With the Ribbon, you can graphically highlight the optimal path through the tree.

Since all computations for decision trees are performed using standard Excel worksheet formulas, you can use decision trees in your simulation and optimisation models.  You must make discrete choices for decisions and define discrete alternatives for events. However, you can define distributions for event outcomes and/or costs incurred for decisions. The composite distribution of outcomes at the root node can then be viewed.


New License Manager

Risk Solver Platform v9.5 and all of its subset products incorporate a new license manager, from Reprise Software. For customers with Flexible Use (concurrent user) licenses, there is a new License Server to work with this license manager.

The Reprise license manager offers simpler and more reliable trial licenses, plus the convenience of Internet-based license activation. 


Improved Help and Examples

In all v9.5 products, you can get quick online Help for:

  • Solver result messages
  • Error messages
  • Platform options
  • Solver Engine options
  • Elements in simulation and optimisation model
  • Sensitivity analysis
  • Decision tree element

Instead of the v9.0 Risk Solver Platform splash screen that appeared every time you started Excel, v9.5's startup screen appears only when you visit the Risk Solver Platform tab and when you’re using a trial license. This screen includes links to help files, user guide, example worksheet models and video tutorials.

You can switch easily between Risk Solver Platform, Risk Solver Premium, Premium Solver Platform, Premium Solver and Risk Solver. You can run any product that is a subset of the product for which you have a license. This is especially useful when evaluating the software since you can experience the features and performance for each subset product.

Free Delivery for Online Orders

Order online from Hearne Scientific Software and delivery is free.

For more information regarding Solver contact Hearne Scientific Software.

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