A Quantitative Measure of Portability with Application to Bandwidth-Latency Models for Parallel Computing
Gianfranco Bilardi, Andrea Pietracaprina, Geppino Pucci · 1999
Abstract. We introduce a novel methodology for the quantitative assessment of the effectiveness and portability of models of parallel computation. Specifically, we relate the effectiveness of a modelM, adopted for algorithm design, with respect to a platformM0, where algorithms developed forMare ultimately executed, to the product of cross-simulation slowdowns betweenMandM0. The portability ofMwith respect to a class of platforms can be estimated by its minimum effectiveness over the platforms in the class. We apply our methodology to assess the portability of enhanced variants of the BSP model with respect to processor networks, with particular emphasis on multidimensional arrays. 1