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Lessons learned from implementing BSP

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High-Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN-Europe 1997)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1225))

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Abstract

We focus on two criticisms of Bulk Synchronous Parallelism (BSP): that delaying communication until specific points in a program causes poor performance, and that frequent barrier synchronisations are too expensive for high-performance parallel computing. We show that these criticisms are misguided, not just about BSP but about parallel programming in general, because they are based on misconceptions about the origins of poor performance. The main implication for parallel programming is that higher levels of abstraction do not only make software construction easier—they also make high-performance implementation easier.

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References

  1. M.W. Goudreau, J.M.D. Hill, K. Lang, W.F. McColl, S.D. Rao, D.C. Stefanescu, T. Suel, and T. Tsantilas. A proposal for a BSP Worldwide standard. BSP Worldwide, http://www.bsp-worldwide.org/, April 1996.

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  2. J.M.D. Hill and D.B. Skillicorn. Practical barrier synchronisation. Technical Report TR-16-96, Oxford University Computing Laboratory, August 1996.

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  3. W.F. McColl. General purpose parallel computing. In A.M. Gibbons and P. Spirakis, editors, Lectures on Parallel Computation, Cambridge International Series on Parallel Computation, pages 337–391, 1993.

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  4. D.B. Skillicorn, J.M.D. Hill, and W.F. McColl. Questions and answers about BSP. Technical Report TR-15-96, Oxford University Computing Laboratory, August 1996.

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  5. L.G. Valiant. A bridging model for parallel computation. Communications of the ACM, 33(8): 103–111, August 1990.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Computing Laboratory, Oxford University, UK

    Jonathan M. D. Hill

  2. Department of Computing and Information Science, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada

    David B. Skillicorn

Authors
  1. Jonathan M. D. Hill
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  2. David B. Skillicorn
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Editor information

Bob Hertzberger Peter Sloot

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© 1997 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hill, J.M.D., Skillicorn, D.B. (1997). Lessons learned from implementing BSP. In: Hertzberger, B., Sloot, P. (eds) High-Performance Computing and Networking. HPCN-Europe 1997. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1225. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0031647

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0031647

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-62898-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-69041-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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