The AVS kernel is a proprietary product of AVS, Inc. The kernel controls the execution and communication of AVS modules. The machine which hosts the kernel for an AVS application is the local host and all modules in a AVS network running on that machine are local modules. Modules in an AVS network which execute on a machine other than the one where the kernel resides are remote modules.
The kernel also provides the user interface to several AVS subsystems, including the Image Viewer, Graph Viewer, and Geometry Viewer. These subsystems are used to display bit-mapped images, plots and contours, and three-dimensional geometries, respectively. In addition, the kernel provides the interface for the Network Editor, which is used to construct AVS networks. Like the AVS modules, the AVS kernel has been ported to many workstations and mainframes, including the CRAY Y-MP.