Dr. Gheith Abandah, Chair Computer Engineering Department The University of Jordan 20/4/20091
Multicore Trend Current Performance Improvement The Parallel Programming Challenge The Future 20/4/20092
Modern processor chips contain processing cores and levels of memory caches. A multicore processor is an integrated circuit (IC) that has two or more processors for ◦ enhanced performance, ◦ reduced power consumption, ◦ and more efficient simultaneous processing of multiple tasks. 20/4/20093
CompanyProcessorYearCores IBMPower Power Power Cell20069 SunUltraSPARC T IntelCore 2 Duo20062 Itanium 2 Duo20062 Core 2 Quad20074 AMDAthlon20052 Opteron Quad /4/20094
5 276 million transistors
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7 234 million transistors
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9
10
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Multicore Trend Current Performance Improvement The Parallel Programming Challenge The Future 20/4/200912
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Multicore Trend Current Performance Improvement The Parallel Programming Challenge The Future 20/4/200915
All modern computers are parallel computers, often with 2 or more processors. Most user applications are serial applications that use one processor. 20/4/200916
If one core is going to do all your work, why would you buy new processors with more cores? Processor manufacturing companies are: ◦ Promoting parallel programming by providing tools and training. ◦ Supporting research for innovative ways to utilize the multiple cores. 20/4/200917
Parallel programming is harder than normal programming because it involves: ◦ Additional techniques ◦ Problem partitioning ◦ Synchronization ◦ Access control ◦ … 90% of programmers don’t do parallel programming. 20/4/200918
Multicore Trend Current Performance Improvement The Parallel Programming Challenge The Future 20/4/200919
Research on better semiconductor materials to build smaller, faster, and cooler transistors. Fine power management. Keep tweaking the cores for more performance optimizations. Multiple cores are here to stay. More and larger caches. Compilers that generate parallel threads automatically. 20/4/200920