Over the past few years, we have had several inquiries about the possibility of parallelized versions of our codes. The questions have come mainly from people in the vanguard of technology with specialized cluster research machines. We were hesitate to jump into parallel programming until multiprocessor technology reached most of our users. Instead, we concentrated on speed improvements in a conventional sequential framework.
Several developments now provide a motivation to move forward:
- Microprocessor manufacturers hit a brick wall at 4 GHz. It is unlikely that higher clock speeds will lead to future gains in computational speed.
- 64 bit processors with 64 bit operating systems are becoming the norm. With the option to address large blocks of memory, users will invariably seek to construct larger meshes.
- Quad core processors are becoming available in conventional PCs.
On February 1, we will issue a major update of the 3D AMaze programs. A featured advance will be the option for multicore operation on 64-bit machines. With OpenMP technology, the programs will automatically optimize operation for a multicore environment. The programs can also run run in the sequential mode on an older computer with no penalty in performance. We will add multiprocessor support to the following classes of programs:
- Boundary-value solutions based on iterative matrix inversion (HiPhi, Magnum).
- Initial-value problems using offset difference methods (HeatWave, Aether).
- Monte-Carlo problems with independent shower calculations (GamBet).
- Charged-particle codes with independent orbit tracking and iterative matrix inversion for field adjustments (OmniTrak).
We have been testing a parallel version of HiPhi on a dual-processor machine. From the results, we expect a reduction in run time by a factor of 2-3 on a quad-core computer.