We present details of our investigations of the parallel tempering algorith
m. We consider the application of action matching technology to the selecti
on of parameters. We then present a simple model of the autocorrelations fo
r a particular parallel tempered system. finally we present results from ap
plying the algorithm to lattice QCD with O(a)-improved dynamical Wilson fer
mions for twin sub-ensemble systems. [S0556-2821(99)08109-6].