Performance Through Parallel Computing

Performance in Parallel Computing
A File Paper
Presented to
Department of Computer Science
Midwestern State University

In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements of the Degree
Master of Science
By
Frank Keck
May 2010

Performance through Parallel Computing

By

Frank Keck

APPROVED:

                                                                                                    ____________________________
                                                                                                    Chair, Graduate Advisory Committee

                                                                                                            ______________________________
                                                                                                                                                          Member

                                                                                                              ______________________________
                                                                                                                                                            Member

______________________________
Program Chair

______________________________
Date of Approval
Abstract
Most software developers have relied on the advances in hardware to increase the speed of their applications. Existing software simply ran faster as each new generation of processors was introduced. However, since 2003 power consumption issues have limited the increase of the clock frequency and the level of productive activities that can be performed in each clock period within a single CPU. Since then, virtually all microprocessor vendors have switched to multi-core and many-core models in which multiple processing units, referred to as processor cores, are used in each chip to increase the processing power. A traditional sequential program will only utilize one of the processor cores,... [continues]

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