Abstract Data dependence analysis is the most essential process while parallelizing a sequential program. Most current data dependence tests cannot handle array subscripts that are non-linear expressions. In this paper, we present a new parallelization algorithm, called non-linear array subscripts (NLA) test, to deal with non-linear or complex array subscripts. In this scheme, the iterations subject to loop-carried dependence are scheduled into different wavefronts, while the iterations with no loop-carried dependence are assigned into the same wavefront. Based on the wavefront information, the original loop is then transformed into parallel code. Our experimental results on shared-memory parallel machines HP SPP2000 and ALR Quad6 prove the high effectiveness of the NLA test.