Data-Parallel Programming in a Multithreaded Environment

Issue title: Paradigms and Compilers for Parallel Processing

Article type: Research Article

Authors: HAINES, MATTHEW | MEHROTRA, PIYUSH | CRONK, DAVID

Affiliations: Computer Science Department, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071-3682; e-mail: [email protected] | Institute for Computer Applications in Science and Engineering, NASA Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 132C, Hampton, VA 23681-0001; e-mail: {pm,cronk}@icase.edu

Abstract: Research on programming distributed memory multiprocessors has resulted in a well-understood programming model, namely data-parallel programming. However, data-parallel programming in a multithreaded environment is far less understood. For example, if multiple threads within the same process belong to different data-parallel computations, then the architecture, compiler, or run-time system must ensure that relative indexing and collective operations are handled properly and efficiently. We introduce a run-time-based solution for data-parallel programming in a distributed memory environment that handles the problems of relative indexing and collective communications among thread groups. As a result, the data-parallel programming model can now be executed in a multithreaded environment, such as a system using threads to support both task and data parallelism.

Journal: Scientific Programming, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 187-200, 1997