Using the Xeon Phi platform to run speculatively-parallelized codes

Producción CientíficaIntel Xeon Phi accelerators are one of the newest devices used in the field of parallel computing. However, there are comparatively few studies concerning their performance when using most of the existing parallelization techniques. One of them is thread-level speculation, a technique that optimistically tries to extract parallelism of loops without the need of a compile-time analysis that guarantees that the loop can be executed in parallel. In this article we evaluate the performance delivered by an Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor when using a software, state-of-the-art thread-level speculative parallelization library in the execution of well-known benchmarks. We describe both the internal characteristics of the Xeon Phi platform and the particularities of the thread-level speculation library being used as benchmark. Our results show that, although the Xeon Phi delivers a relatively good speedup in comparison with a shared-memory architecture in terms of scalability, the relatively low computing power of its computational units when specific vectorization and SIMD instructions are not fully exploited makes this first generation of Xeon Phi architectures not competitive (in terms of absolute performance) with respect to conventional multicore systems for the execution of speculatively parallelized code.2018-04-01Castilla-Leon Regional Government (VA172A12-2); MICINN (Spain) and the European Union FEDER (MOGECOPP project TIN2011-25639, HomProg-HetSys project TIN2014-58876-P, CAPAP-H5 network TIN2014-53522-REDT)

Site Controller: A System for Computer-Aided Civil Engineering and Construction

A revolution\0\0\0 in earthmoving, a $100 billion industry, can be achieved with three components: the GPS location system, sensors and computers in bulldozers, and SITE CONTROLLER, a central computer system that maintains design data and directs operations. The first two components are widely available; I built SITE CONTROLLER to complete the triangle and describe it here. SITE CONTROLLER assists civil engineers in the design, estimation, and construction of earthworks, including hazardous waste site remediation. The core of SITE CONTROLLER is a site modelling system that represents existing and prospective terrain shapes, roads, hydrology, etc. Around this core are analysis, simulation, and vehicle control tools. Integrating these modules into one program enables civil engineers and contractors to use a single interface and database throughout the life of a project

Overview of database projects

The use of entity and object oriented data modeling techniques for managing Computer Aided Design (CAD) is explored

Spatial models in computer-based information systems

From a series of initial studies in the area of computer cartography a dual data structure was evolved based on matrix representation of graphs and the use of boolean expressions. This data structure was used principally to represent zones in space though, by using boundaries of zones, it was possible to create line networks. The original idea was to use the boolean expressions as an input language for creating volume and area descriptions and to use the graph matrices for internal manipulation and creating graphic output. However, a way was found to interpret the boolean expression directly into the form of graphic output suitable for the raster scan displays given by television monitors. The software implementation of this process was very slow but, with the current developments in integrated circuitry, it suggested a way of creating a new form of parallel display processor. This possibility was investigated initially as a general processor to carry out several related spatial operations and then, finally, merely to create displays. The applications depend on (t) the general nature of the data structure used and the possible graphic languages it makes possible and (2) the real time manipulation of displays. In the case of three-dimensional scenes, this includes an automatic hidden line and hidden area removal capability. The particular applications which have been considered include the fast access and display of maps and technical drawings from planning, archi¬ tectural and engineering data bases; the real time generation of displays for training simulation; the preparation of animated films for teaching and entertainment; the control of numerically-controlled machine tools; and solving the placement problem in computer-aided design work and overlap problems in type setting and map annotation

Hyper-real-time ice simulation and modeling using GPGPU

Simulation of the behaviour of a ship operating in pack ice is a computationally intensive process to which General Purpose Computing on Graphical Processing Units (GPGPU) can be applied. GPGPU is the use of a GPU (graphics processing unit) to do general purpose scientific and engineering computing. The model for GPU computing is to use a CPU and GPU together in a heterogeneous co-processing computing platform. The sequential part of the application runs on the CPU and the computationally-intensive part is accelerated by the GPU. From the users perspective, the application just runs faster because it is using the high-performance of the GPU to boost performance. This thesis presents an efficient parallel implementation of such a simulator developed using the NVIDIA Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA). This simulator can be used to give users the ability to analyze ice-interactions for design, assessment and training purposes. This thesis also describes the execution of experiments to evaluate the performance of the simulator and to validate the numerical modeling of ship operations in pack ice. It also describes the useful applications that have been done using this simulator in planning ice management activities

GUARDIANS final report

Emergencies in industrial warehouses are a major concern for firefghters. The large dimensions together with the development of dense smoke that drastically reduces visibility, represent major challenges. The Guardians robot swarm is designed to assist fire fighters in searching a large warehouse. In this report we discuss the technology developed for a swarm of robots searching and assisting fire fighters. We explain the swarming algorithms which provide the functionality by which the robots react to and follow humans while no communication is required. Next we discuss the wireless communication system, which is a so-called mobile ad-hoc network. The communication network provides also one of the means to locate the robots and humans. Thus the robot swarm is able to locate itself and provide guidance information to the humans. Together with the re ghters we explored how the robot swarm should feed information back to the human fire fighter. We have designed and experimented with interfaces for presenting swarm based information to human beings