Investigation of Parallel Programmability and Performance of a Calxeda ARM Server Using OpenCL

Author : Richie, David; Ross, James; Ruloff, Jordan; Park, Song; Pollock, Lori; Shires, Dale
Booktitle : The Sixth Workshop on Unconventional High Performance Computing 2013 (UCHPC 2013)
Date : Aug 2013
Publisher : IEEE
Keyword(s) : parallel programming, ARM architecture, case study, OpenCL
Document Type : In Conference Proceedings

Abstract :

This paper explores the parallel programmability, performance, and energy efficiency of a recently available Calxeda ARMbased server as a potential energy-efficient platform for computationally intensive applications. A novel OpenCL-based parallel programming model for the Calxeda ARM server is achieved via the use of a higher level STandarD Compute Layer (STDCL) application programming interface and a remote procedure call implementation. Empirical measurements of the performance of the platform are obtained and presented using an N-body code executed in various configurations. Furthermore, an autotuning technique was developed and analyzed for optimization of the N-body algorithm on a specific architecture.

Paper Link