Redesigning OP2 Compiler to Use HPX Runtime Asynchronous Techniques

TL;DR

This paper enhances the OP2 compiler by integrating HPX runtime techniques, such as asynchronous tasking and dynamic optimizations, leading to significant performance improvements in parallel applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach of combining compiler optimizations with runtime techniques using HPX to maximize parallelism and scalability.

Findings

40-50% performance improvement in Airfoil application

Effective use of asynchronous tasking and dynamic optimizations

Demonstrates the benefits of runtime-based parallelism enhancements

Abstract

Maximizing parallelism level in applications can be achieved by minimizing overheads due to load imbalances and waiting time due to memory latencies. Compiler optimization is one of the most effective solutions to tackle this problem. The compiler is able to detect the data dependencies in an application and is able to analyze the specific sections of code for parallelization potential. However, all of these techniques provided with a compiler are usually applied at compile time, so they rely on static analysis, which is insufficient for achieving maximum parallelism and producing desired application scalability. One solution to address this challenge is the use of runtime methods. This strategy can be implemented by delaying certain amount of code analysis to be done at runtime. In this research, we improve the parallel application performance generated by the OP2 compiler by leveraging HPX, a C++ runtime system, to provide runtime optimizations. These optimizations include asynchronous tasking, loop interleaving, dynamic chunk sizing, and data prefetching. The results of the research were evaluated using an Airfoil application which showed a 40-50% improvement in parallel performance.