Using virtual processors for SPMD parallel programs

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the use of Intel Hyper Threading virtual processors to enhance the performance of SPMD parallel programs, specifically MATLAB scripts, highlighting benefits and limitations across different computational scenarios.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of virtual processors in improving parallel program performance for both memory and disk-storage intensive tasks.

Findings

Virtual processors improve parallel performance in memory-based computations.

Virtual processors are beneficial for disk-storage operations.

There are limitations to the approach depending on the task.

Abstract

In this paper I describe some results on the use of virtual processors technology for parallelize some SPMD computational programs. The tested technology is the INTEL Hyper Threading on real processors, and the programs are MATLAB scripts for floating points computation. The conclusions of the work concern on the utility and limits of the used approach. The main result is that using virtual processors is a good technique for improving parallel programs not only for memory-based computations, but in the case of massive disk-storage operations too.