Introduction To Parallel Processing

In modern computer science, there exists no truly sequential computing system; and most advanced programming is parallel programming. This is particularly evident in modern application domains like scientific computation, data science, machine intelligence, etc. This lucid introductory textbook will be invaluable to students of computer science and technology, acting as a self-contained primer to parallel programming. It takes the reader from introduction to expertise, addressing a broad gamut of issues. It covers different parallel programming styles, describes parallel architecture, includes parallel programming frameworks and techniques, presents algorithmic and analysis techniques and discusses parallel design and performance issues. With its broad coverage, the book can be useful in a wide range of courses; and can also prove useful as a ready reckoner for professionals in the field.

THE CONTEXT OF PARALLEL PROCESSING The field of digital computer architecture has grown explosively in the past two decades. Through a steady stream of experimental research, tool-building efforts, and theoretical studies, the design of an instruction-set architecture, once considered an art, has been transformed into one of the most quantitative branches of computer technology. At the same time, better understanding of various forms of concurrency, from standard pipelining to massive parallelism, and invention of architectural structures to support a reasonably efficient and user-friendly programming model for such systems, has allowed hardware performance to continue its exponential growth. This trend is expected to continue in the near future. This explosive growth, linked with the expectation that performance will continue its exponential rise with each new generation of hardware and that (in stark contrast to software) computer hardware will function correctly as soon as it comes off the assembly line, has its down side. It has led to unprecedented hardware complexity and almost intolerable dev- opment costs. The challenge facing current and future computer designers is to institute simplicity where we now have complexity; to use fundamental theories being developed in this area to gain performance and ease-of-use benefits from simpler circuits; to understand the interplay between technological capabilities and limitations, on the one hand, and design decisions based on user and application requirements on the other.

A complete source of information on almost all aspects of parallel computing from introduction, to architectures, to programming paradigms, to algorithms, to programming standards. It covers traditional Computer Science algorithms, scientific computing algorithms and data intensive algorithms.

Advancements in microprocessor architecture, interconnection technology, and software development have fueled rapid growth in parallel and distributed computing. However, this development is only of practical benefit if it is accompanied by progress in the design, analysis and programming of parallel algorithms. This concise textbook provides, in one place, three mainstream parallelization approaches, Open MPP, MPI and OpenCL, for multicore computers, interconnected computers and graphical processing units. An overview of practical parallel computing and principles will enable the reader to design efficient parallel programs for solving various computational problems on state-of-the-art personal computers and computing clusters. Topics covered range from parallel algorithms, programming tools, OpenMP, MPI and OpenCL, followed by experimental measurements of parallel programs’ run-times, and by engineering analysis of obtained results for improved parallel execution performances. Many examples and exercises support the exposition.

Written with a straightforward and student-centred approach, this extensively revised, updated and enlarged edition presents a thorough coverage of the various aspects of parallel processing including parallel processing architectures, programmability issues, data dependency analysis, shared memory programming, thread-based implementation, distributed computing, algorithms, parallel programming languages, debugging, parallelism paradigms, distributed databases as well as distributed operating systems. The book, now in its second edition, not only provides sufficient practical exposure to the programming issues but also enables its readers to make realistic attempts at writing parallel programs using easily available software tools. With all the latest information incorporated and several key pedagogical attributes included, this textbook is an invaluable learning tool for the undergraduate and postgraduate students of computer science and engineering. It also caters to the students pursuing master of computer application. What’s New to the Second Edition • A new chapter named Using Parallelism Effectively has been added covering a case study of parallelising a sorting program, and introducing commonly used parallelism models. • Sections describing the map-reduce model, top-500.org initiative, Indian efforts in supercomputing, OpenMP system for shared memory programming, etc. have been added. • Numerous sections have been updated with current information. • Several questions have been incorporated in the chapter-end exercises to guide students from examination and practice points of view.

This book introduces students to the full gamut of different parallel programming styles and their relationship to hardware architecture.

This book is an introduction to the highly topical areas of distributed and parallel processing, and will be of value to computer science undergraduates, students of electrical engineering, electronics and microprocessors, and non-specialist professionals working in related areas.

A comprehensive guide for students and practitioners to parallel computing models, processes, metrics, and implementation in MPI and OpenMP.