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+## An MPI parallel implementation for EGSnrc
+
+The purpose of this contribution is to present a parallel solution for the 
+EGSnrc Monte Carlo code system using the MPI programming model as an alternative 
+to the provided implementation, based on the use of a batch-queueing system.
+
+Currently, the BEAMnrc and DOSXYZnrc user codes support this parallel solution 
+based on MPI. In the case of DOSXYZnrc, both the use of a phase space file 
+and BEAM shared library as sources has been tested. Both codes can be used 
+as models to introduce MPI features to other EGSnrc user codes.
+
+## Authors
+
+Edgardo Doerner (edoerner at fis.puc.cl)
+Paola Caprile
+
+Institute of Physics
+Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile
+
+## Method
+
+This work incorporates MPI features to distribute the simulation between the 
+available compute units. These features are introduced through properly defined 
+macros, which are enabled depending on the compilation flags given by the user.
+The workload balance is controlled by default via a 'job control file' as the 
+original implementation.
+
+In order to ease the integration of MPI in EGSnrc, the compilation flags 
+needed to enable the MPI parallelization are added through the 'mpi' target, 
+defined in both the EGSnrc standard makefile (standard_makefile) and BEAMnrc 
+makefile (beam_makefile) inside $HEN_HOUSE/makefiles folder. 
+
+The result is a dedicated executable with MPI support that can be called by the 
+user. The advantage is that there is no need to modify or add the needed 
+compilation flags to the *.conf file during the installation process.
+
+By default, it is expected that OpenMPI is installed in the system. If another 
+MPI implementation is desired, change the F77 macro inside the 'mpi' target to 
+the desired MPI compiler in the following Makefiles:
+
+$HEN_HOUSE/makefiles/standard_makefile (line 169)
+$HEN_HOUSE/makefiles/beam_makefile (line 165)
+
+by default F77=mpif90 in both files.
+
+## Usage
+
+In order to compile an user code $(user_code) with MPI support go to 
+the $EGS_HOME/$(user_code) folder and type:
+
+make mpi
+
+This will enable the MPI features in the user code and will create an executable 
+called $(user_code)_mpi (i.e. the normal user code executable name with the 
+'_mpi' suffix attached to it). Then, use mpirun or similar to execute it with 
+MPI support:
+
+mpirun -np #NUM_PROCS $(user_code)_mpi -i input_file -p pegs_file
+
+## Issues
+
+Two small issues remains in the following contribution:
+
+1. When the DOSXYZnrc user code is used with a BEAM shared library as a source, 
+an error appears regarding the inability of locking the *.lock file used 
+to distribute the workload in the parallel simulation. This is triggered by the 
+shared library, not the dosxyznrc jobs or MPI processes involved. 
+
+This issue is inherited from the develop branch on EGSnrc, and causes all the 
+MPI processes to halt. As a temporal solution, the use of the file locking 
+mechanism is disabled in the BEAM shared library at compile time through a 
+proper compilation flag.
+
+2. When the BEAMnrc user code is compiled with MPI support or DOSXYZnrc is 
+used with a BEAM shared library as a source, a console message 
+appears at the end of the simulation:
+
+ls: ~/$EGS_HOME/BEAM_myaccel/myaccel_w*.egsdat: No such file or directory
+
+Of course, it is expected to not have egsdat files if data arrays are not 
+stored during simulation. The presence of such files is tested in the 
+egs_combine_runs subroutine at the end of the simulation. When MPI support is 
+enabled, and in contrast with the standard compilation, the result of the 
+system command is echoed to the terminal. This does not affect the results 
+and it means only a minor annoyance during execution.
+
+## Disabling Parallel Jobs functionality
+
+Some systems (such as the National Laboratory of High Performance Computing 
+(NLHPC) in Chile) does not allow the use of a lock-file mechanism needed by the 
+EGSnrc parallel implementation and this MPI contribution to control access to
+the job control file. 
+
+In such a case, the user can define the _NOPJOB macro during compilation to 
+disable the use of the control file. For example, in the following Makefiles add 
+the _NOPJOB macro definition as:
+
+standard_makefile (line 169): FCFLAGS="$(FCFLAGS) -D_MPI -D_NOPJOB"
+beam_makefile (line 165): FCFLAGS="$(FCFLAGS) -D_MPI -D_NOPJOB"
+
+The result is that the simulation workload is now evenly distributed among 
+computing units, and therefore no job control file is needed.
+
+## OpenMP features
+
+The introduction of OpenMP features has been tested in the DOSXYZnrc user 
+code, with interesting results (see references below). However, some important 
+issues remains unsolved and definitely will need a more extended modification 
+of the user codes, namely:
+
+1. The support of shared library sources in DOSXYZnrc when OpenMP is enabled.
+2. The OpenMP implementation in BEAMnrc, considering the output to phase space 
+files.
+
+An hybrid implementation, combining MPI and OpenMP features can be seen in the 
+pull request #341 (https://github.com/nrc-cnrc/EGSnrc/pull/341). For this 
+reason, it was decided to offer first a polished MPI implementation to the 
+EGSnrc community.
+
+## References
+
+This MPI implementation is contained in the following work:
+
+Doerner E, Caprile P. An hybrid parallel implementation for EGSnrc Monte Carlo 
+user codes. Med. Phys. 45 (8), August 2018.
+
+The aforementioned publication was based on an OpenMP-only solution which can be 
+reviewed in:
+
+Doerner E, Caprile P. Parallel implementation of the EGSnrc Monte Carlo 
+simulation of ionizing radiation transport using OpenMP. Med. Phys. 44 (12), 
+December 2017