Parallel Computing on the Desktop

Dave Forstot Senior Application Engineer

2011 The MathWorks, Inc. 1

A Question to Consider

Do you want to speed up your algorithms?

If so
Do you have a multi-core or multi-processor computer? Do you have a high-end graphics processing unit (GPU)?

Agenda

Introduction to the Parallel Computing Tools

Using Multi-core/Multi-processor Machines

Using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)

Utilizing Additional Processing Power

Built-in multithreading
In core MATLAB For specific matrix operations Automatically enabled since R2008a

Parallel Computing Tools

Controlled by the MATLAB user For a variety of applications Leverage CPUs and GPUs to speed applications further

Parallel Computing on the Desktop

Use Parallel Computing Toolbox
Speed up parallel applications on local computer Take full advantage of desktop power by using CPUs and GPUs Separate computer cluster not required

Desktop Computer

Parallel Computing Toolbox

Scale Up to Clusters, Grids and Clouds

Computer Cluster Desktop Computer MATLAB Distributed Computing Server

Parallel Computing Toolbox

Scheduler

Parallel Computing enables you to

Task-Parallel

Data-Parallel

Speed up computations

Work with large data

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Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Agenda

Introduction to the Parallel Computing Tools

Using Multi-core/Multi-processor Machines

Using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)

Going Beyond Serial MATLAB Applications

Worker

Worker Worker

TOOLBOXES

Worker Worker

BLOCKSETS

Worker
Worker

Worker

Programming Parallel Applications

Greater Control

Ease of Use

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Using Additional Cores/Processors (CPUs)

Support built into Toolboxes

Ease of Use

Greater Control
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Example:
Built-in Support for Parallelism in Other Tools

Use built-in support for Parallel Computing Toolbox in Optimization Toolbox

Run optimization in parallel

Use pool of MATLAB workers

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Other Tools Providing Parallel Computing Support

Optimization Toolbox Global Optimization Toolbox Statistics Toolbox SystemTest Simulink Design Optimization Bioinformatics Toolbox Model-Based Calibration Toolbox

Worker
Worker

TOOLBOXES BLOCKSETS

Worker Worker

Worker
Worker

Worker

Directly leverage functions in Parallel Computing Toolbox

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Using Additional Cores/Processors (CPUs)

Support built into Toolboxes

Ease of Use

Greater Control

Simple programming constructs:

parfor

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Task Parallel Applications

Worker

TOOLBOXES

BLOCKSETS

Worker Worker

Worker

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4

Time

Time
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Example:
Multiple Independent Simulations
1.2 1 0.8

Displacement (x)

Parameter sweep of ODE system Use pool of MATLAB workers Convert for to parfor Interleave serial and parallel code

0.6 0.4 0.2 0 -0.2

m = 5, b = 2, k = 2

m = 5, b = 5, k = 5
0 5 10 15 20 25

-0.4

Time (s)

5 m b x k x 0 x 1, 2,... 1, 2 ,...

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Using Additional Cores/Processors (CPUs)

Support built into Toolboxes

Ease of Use

Greater Control

Simple programming constructs:

parfor
Full control of parallelization:

jobs and tasks

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Agenda

Introduction to the Parallel Computing Tools

Using Multi-core/Multi-processor Machines

Using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs)

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Gaining Performance with More Hardware

Using More Cores (CPUs) Using GPUs

Core 1

Core 2

Core 3 Cache

Core 4 Device Memory

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What is a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU)

Originally used for graphics acceleration, now available for scientific calculations Parallel array of integer and floating point processors
Dozens to hundreds of processors per card Less flexible than regular CPU cores

Separate memory from system

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* Parallel Computing Toolbox requires NVIDIA GPU with Compute Capability 1.3 or greater

Summary of Options for Targeting GPUs

Ease of Use

Use GPU array interface with MATLAB built-in functions Execute custom functions on elements of the GPU array Create kernels from existing CUDA code and PTX files

Greater Control

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Performance: A\b with Double Precision

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Performance Acceleration Options in the Parallel Computing Toolbox

Technology Example
parfor

MATLAB Workers
Required

Execution Target

matlabpool

CPU cores

user-defined tasks

createTask

Required

CPU cores

GPU-based parallelism

GPUArray

No

NVIDIA GPU with Compute Capability 1.3 or greater

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Summary

Speed up parallel applications on desktop by using Parallel Computing Toolbox

Take full advantage of CPU and GPU hardware If required, use MATLAB Distributed Computing Server to
Scale up to clusters, grids and clouds Work with data that is too large to fit on to desktop computers

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For more information

Visit www.mathworks.com/products/parallel-computing

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