Advances to a parallel computation faster, efficient and sustainable
Researchers of the
A project of European investigation, designated Repairs and coordinated by the University Carlos III of Madrid (UC3M), studies how improve the computer applications of computation in parallel to increase his performance, energetic efficiency and facilitate the programming and maintenance of the code source.
The heterogeneous computation in parallel combines several elements of processing of distinct characteristics that share an only system by heart. Usually they employ processors of multiple cores (like the ‘multicore' of some smartphones or personal computers) combined with graphic cards and other components to realizar processing of big quantities of data.
These works of calculation find applications in diverse sectors, like the sanitary ware (prediction of the attachment of proteins), the transport (monitoring of rail systems), the robotics (vision estereoscópica and navigation) or the industrial (analysis of defects in the manufacture of pieces).
The aim of the project Repairs is to put to disposal of the users the energetic profits and of performance of these computer systems, without the enormous effort of development that comport this type of complex architectures. And the key to achieve it roots, between other things, in the 'refactorización' of code source, a technician used in engineering of software to improve the internal structure of a program without altering his observable behaviour. Something as well as change the distribution of the pipes and pumps of pressesure of a building so that it go out the water of way faster, clean and ecological.
In the case of Repair, whose denomination can interpret like Refactoring for Parallelism in allusion to the utilisation of technicians of refactorización in the computation in parallel, the scientists treat to improve three fundamental properties: the performance of the applications (helping to increase his speed of execution), the energetic efficiency (reducing his energetic consumption) and the ease of maintenance and modification of the code source.
Reduce time and money
“The tools and technologies that Repairs pretends to produce are thought to reduce the costs of development and the time of arrival to the market, what redundará in products more competitive”, aims the coordinator of the project, José Daniel García, of the group of investigation of architecture of Computers, Communications and Systems (Arches) of the UC3M.
The researchers expect to have prototypes of the new tools to February of 2015 and test them afterwards in a phase of evaluation with the industrial partners. “We expect to achieve important improvements, so much in the speed of execution as in the energetic efficiency of the computers”, advances the professor José Daniel García. “And also we can reduce the time that need the engineers to tune a product software in some parallel surroundings, what would recess notably the costs of development and would favour the competitiveness of the industry of development of software”, resalta.
In a work of investigation published recently in the magazine New Generation IT, the researchers have analysed how affects the model of programming to the performance and the energetic efficiency in the case of architectures of processors of several cores. From here it arose the idea to deepen in this line, because “it does necessary help to the developers in the transition to distinct models of programming, as well as in the selection of the model of programming more suitable depending on the concrete characteristics of his application”, explains the professor José Daniel García.
The project Repairs (Reengineering and Enabling Performance and poweR of Applications), that started in September of 2013 with a planned length of three years, gathers to experts in parallel computer systems and heterogeneous of the academic and industrial field of five European countries. It has budget that surpasses the 3,6 million euros, of which more than 2,6 millions come from of the Seventh Program Marco (7PM) for the Investigation and the Technological Development.
In total, participate five academic institutions: the FHO HSR Rapperswil (Switzerland), the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany), the University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain), the University of Szeged (Hungary) and the University of Pisa (Italy). Besides, the project has two partners in the industrial state: Ixion Industry & Aerospace in Spain and Evopro Innovation in Hungary. The UC3M is the institution coordinator of the project Repairs and participates through the group of investigation Arches, that contributes to the project his dilated experience in computation of high performance and systems bedded.
Bibliographic reference
Luis Miguel Sánchez, Rafael Sotomayor, J. Daniel García, Javier Fernández, School Solitude. “To Comparative Study and Evaluation of Parallel Programming Models for Shared-Memory Parallel architectures”. New Generation IT, 31(3):139–161, July 2013. DOI: 10.1007/s00354-013-0301-5.
