Abstract
We propose an abstract approach towards the fundamental concepts involved in SIMD architectures. Its specificity is to proceed by studying the abstract semantics of parallel languages designed to control those architectures in their various aspects. In this paper, we concentrate on the duality between the macroscopic view of SIMD architectures (a sequential processor operating on array variables), and the microscopic one (an array of parallel processors operating on private scalar variables). For this purpose, we define a simple language for each viewpoint, give their abstract operational semantics, set up a compilation function and prove it correct. In a second part, we consider more closely the macroscopic language. We study program equivalences and proofs, and we show how to use it to implement various routing strategies.
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Auguin, M., Boeri, F. The Opsila Computer. In: Parallel Algorithms and Architectures, Cosnard, M. et al. (Eds), Elsevier Science Publishers, 1986, pp. 143–153.
Batcher, K. The design of a Massively Parallel Processor. IEEE Trans. on Computers C-29, 9, 1979, pp. 836–840.
Bougé, L. On the semantics of languages for massively parallel SIMD architectures. Rept. No. 90-13, LIENS, Paris, 1990.
Connection Machine Model CM-2 Technical Summary. Techn. Rept. HA 87-4, Thinking Machine Corp., 1987.
Flynn, M.J. Some Computer Organizations and Their Effectiveness. IEEE Trans. on Computers C-21, 9, 1972, pp. 948–960.
Fountain, T.J. CLIP4: A Progress Report. In: Languages and Architectures for Image Processing, Duff, M.J.B., Levialdi, S. (Eds), Academic Press, 1981, pp. 283–291.
Fountain, T.J. A Survey of Bit-Serial Array Processor Circuit. In: Computing Structures for Image Processing, Duff, M.J.B. (Ed), Academic Press, 1983, pp. 1–14.
Frenkel, K. Evaluating two massively parallel machines. Comm. ACM 29, 8, 1986, pp. 752–758.
Gerritsen, F.A. A comparison of the CLIP4, DAP and MPP processor-array implementations. In: Computing Structures for Image Processing, Duff, M.J.B. (Ed), Academic Press, 1983, pp. 15–30.
Hoare, C.A.R. An axiomatic basis for computer programming. Comm. ACM 12, 10, 1969, pp. 576–580, 583.
Hillis, W.D. The Connection Machine. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1985.
Hunt, D.J. The ICL DAP and its application to image processing. In: Languages and Architectures for Image Processing, Duff, M.J.B., Levialdi, S. (Eds), Academic Press, 1981, pp. 275–282.
Lua, K.T., Wong, W.F. Geometric Arithmetic Parallel Processor — An Evaluation. Proc. Interdepartment Seminar on Supercomputers and Applications, Publ. TRIO/87, Dept. Information Systems and Comp. Science, Nat. Univ. Singapore, 1987, pp. 44–61.
Olderog, E.-R., Apt, K. Fairness in parallel programs: the transformational approach. ACM Trans. on Progr. Lang. and Systems 10, 3, 1988, pp. 420–455.
Paris, N. Définition de POMPC. Typescript, LIENS, Paris, 1989.
ParIS: The C Interface. Reference Manual. Thinking Machine Corporation, 1987.
Perrott, R.H. A language for array and vector processors. ACM Trans. Progr. Lang. 1, 2, 1979, pp. 177–195.
Reeves, R.W. Parallel Pascal and the Massively Parallel Processor. In: The Massively Parallel Processor, Potter, J.L. (Ed), MIT Press, 1985, pp. 230–260.
Hockney, R.W., Jesshope, C.R. Parallel Computers 2: Architectures, Programming and Algorithms. IOP Publishing Ltd, 1988.
Steele, G.H., Hillis, W.D. Connection Machine Lisp: Fine-Grain Parallel Symbolic Processing. Proc. 1986 ACM Conf. on Lisp and Funct. Progr., Cambridge, MA, 1986, pp. 279–297.
*Lisp Language Reference Manual. Thinking Machine Corporation, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1990 Springer-Verlag
About this paper
Cite this paper
Bougé, L., Garda, P. (1990). Towards a semantic approach to SIMD architectures and their languages. In: Guessarian, I. (eds) Semantics of Systems of Concurrent Processes. LITP 1990. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 469. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-53479-2_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-53479-2_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-53479-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-46897-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive