Document Type
Article
Date
1996
Keywords
High Performance Fortran, HPF, mixed task computations, data-parallel computations, coordination library, Message Passing Interface, MPI
Language
English
Disciplines
Computer Sciences
Description/Abstract
The data-parallel language High Performance Fortran (HPF) does not allow efficient expression of mixed task/data-parallel computations or the coupling of separately compiled data-parallel modules. In this paper, we show how these common parallel program structures can be represented, with only minor extensions to the HPF model, by using a coordination library based on the Message Passing Interface (MPI). This library allows data-parallel tasks to exchange distributed data structures using calls to simple communication functions. We present microbenchmark results that characterize the performance of this library and that quantify the impact of optimizations that allow reuse of communication schedules in common situations. In addition, results from two-dimensional FFT, convolution, and multiblock programs demonstrate that the HPF/MPI library can provide performance superior to that of pure HPF. We conclude that this synergistic combination of two parallel programming standards represents a useful approach to task parallelism in a data-parallel framework, increasing the range of problems addressable in HPF without requiring complex compiler technology.
Recommended Citation
Foster, Ian; Kohr, David R.; Krishnaiyer, Rakesh; and Choudhary, Alok, "A Library-Based Approach to Task Parallelism in a Data-Parallel Language" (1996). College of Engineering and Computer Science - Former Departments, Centers, Institutes and Projects. 10.
https://surface.syr.edu/lcsmith_other/10
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
