5,799 research outputs found
Parallel sparse matrix-vector multiplication as a test case for hybrid MPI+OpenMP programming
We evaluate optimized parallel sparse matrix-vector operations for two
representative application areas on widespread multicore-based cluster
configurations. First the single-socket baseline performance is analyzed and
modeled with respect to basic architectural properties of standard multicore
chips. Going beyond the single node, parallel sparse matrix-vector operations
often suffer from an unfavorable communication to computation ratio. Starting
from the observation that nonblocking MPI is not able to hide communication
cost using standard MPI implementations, we demonstrate that explicit overlap
of communication and computation can be achieved by using a dedicated
communication thread, which may run on a virtual core. We compare our approach
to pure MPI and the widely used "vector-like" hybrid programming strategy.Comment: 12 pages, 6 figure
Hybrid-parallel sparse matrix-vector multiplication with explicit communication overlap on current multicore-based systems
We evaluate optimized parallel sparse matrix-vector operations for several
representative application areas on widespread multicore-based cluster
configurations. First the single-socket baseline performance is analyzed and
modeled with respect to basic architectural properties of standard multicore
chips. Beyond the single node, the performance of parallel sparse matrix-vector
operations is often limited by communication overhead. Starting from the
observation that nonblocking MPI is not able to hide communication cost using
standard MPI implementations, we demonstrate that explicit overlap of
communication and computation can be achieved by using a dedicated
communication thread, which may run on a virtual core. Moreover we identify
performance benefits of hybrid MPI/OpenMP programming due to improved load
balancing even without explicit communication overlap. We compare performance
results for pure MPI, the widely used "vector-like" hybrid programming
strategies, and explicit overlap on a modern multicore-based cluster and a Cray
XE6 system.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figure
GHOST: Building blocks for high performance sparse linear algebra on heterogeneous systems
While many of the architectural details of future exascale-class high
performance computer systems are still a matter of intense research, there
appears to be a general consensus that they will be strongly heterogeneous,
featuring "standard" as well as "accelerated" resources. Today, such resources
are available as multicore processors, graphics processing units (GPUs), and
other accelerators such as the Intel Xeon Phi. Any software infrastructure that
claims usefulness for such environments must be able to meet their inherent
challenges: massive multi-level parallelism, topology, asynchronicity, and
abstraction. The "General, Hybrid, and Optimized Sparse Toolkit" (GHOST) is a
collection of building blocks that targets algorithms dealing with sparse
matrix representations on current and future large-scale systems. It implements
the "MPI+X" paradigm, has a pure C interface, and provides hybrid-parallel
numerical kernels, intelligent resource management, and truly heterogeneous
parallelism for multicore CPUs, Nvidia GPUs, and the Intel Xeon Phi. We
describe the details of its design with respect to the challenges posed by
modern heterogeneous supercomputers and recent algorithmic developments.
Implementation details which are indispensable for achieving high efficiency
are pointed out and their necessity is justified by performance measurements or
predictions based on performance models. The library code and several
applications are available as open source. We also provide instructions on how
to make use of GHOST in existing software packages, together with a case study
which demonstrates the applicability and performance of GHOST as a component
within a larger software stack.Comment: 32 pages, 11 figure
Parallel density matrix propagation in spin dynamics simulations
Several methods for density matrix propagation in distributed computing
environments, such as clusters and graphics processing units, are proposed and
evaluated. It is demonstrated that the large communication overhead associated
with each propagation step (two-sided multiplication of the density matrix by
an exponential propagator and its conjugate) may be avoided and the simulation
recast in a form that requires virtually no inter-thread communication. Good
scaling is demonstrated on a 128-core (16 nodes, 8 cores each) cluster.Comment: Submitted for publicatio
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