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At least 271 records · Page 15

The TENNLab Exploratory Neuromorphic Computing Framework

Spiking, neuromorphic computing systems are in a period of active exploration by the computing community. While they feature computational expressiveness beyond both von Neumann computing models and feed-forward neural networks, they are also challenging to design and program. The TENNLab exploratory neuromorphic computing framework is a software infrastructure, soon to be open-source, whose goal is to enable potential users of spiking, neuromorphic computing systems to develop applications and evaluate computing architectures, and for architecture researchers to develop and evaluate their architectures with a variety of applications. In this letter, we present the software architecture of the TENNLab framework.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

ECP SOLLVE: Validation and Verification Testsuite Status Update and Compiler Insight for OpenMP

The OpenMP language continues to evolve with every new specification release, as does the need to validate and verify the new features that have been implemented by the different vendors. With the release of OpenMP 5.0 and OpenMP 5.1, new target offload and host-based features have been introduced to the programming model. While OpenMP continues to grow in maturity, there is an observable growth in the number of compiler and hardware vendors that support OpenMP. In this manuscript, the main focus is on evaluating the conformity and OpenMP implementation progress of various compiler vendors such as Cray, IBM, GNU, Clang/LLVM, NVIDIA, and Intel. More specifically, the 4.5, 5.0, and 5.1 versions of the OpenMP specification are analyzed. For our experimental setup, the Crusher and Summit computing systems hosted by Oak Ridge National Lab’s Computing Facilities are utilized. The effort of vendor agnostic analysis of these implementations is especially valuable for application developers who are using new OpenMP features to accelerate their scientific codes. Insights are presented into the current implementation status of various vendors, the progression of specific compiler’s support for OpenMP overtime, the subset of OpenMP 4.5, 5.0, and 5.1 that is supported by all compilers, and examples of how our test suite has influenced discussion regarding the correct interpretation of the OpenMP specification. By evaluating OpenMP conformity of pre-Exascale computing systems, the aim is to detail progress and status of AMD + Cray ecosystem before the system and their OpenMP implementation is used for mission critical applications when the first Exascale Computer Frontier is made available to applications.

Huber, Thomas↗

In Search of Optimum Fresh-Cut Raw Material: Using Computer Vision Systems as a Sensory Screening Tool for Browning-Resistant Romaine Lettuce Accessions

The popularity of ready-to-eat (RTE) salads has prompted novel technology to prolong the shelf life of their ingredients. Fresh-cut romaine lettuce is widely used in RTE salads; however, its tendency to quickly discolor continues to be a challenge for the industry. Selecting the ideal lettuce accessions for use in RTE salads is essential to ensure maximum shelf life, and it is critical to have a practical way to assess and compare the quality of multiple lettuce accessions that are being considered for use in fresh-cut applications. Thus, in this work we aimed to determine whether a computer vision system (CVS) composed of image acquisition, processing, and analysis could be effective to detect visual quality differences among 16 accessions of fresh-cut romaine lettuce during postharvest storage. The CVS involved a post-capturing color correction, effective image segmentation, and calculation of a browning index, which was tested as a predictor of quality and shelf life of fresh-cut romaine lettuce. The results demonstrated that machine vision software can be implemented to replace or supplement the scoring of a trained panel and instrumental quality measurements. Overall visual quality, a key sensory parameter that determines food preferences and consumer behavior, was highly correlated with the browning index, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of −0.85. Other important sensory decision parameters were also strongly or moderately correlated with the browning index, with Pearson correlation coefficients of −0.84 for freshness, 0.79 for off odor, and 0.57 for browning. The ranking of the accessions according to quality acceptability from the sensory evaluation produced a similar pattern to those obtained with the CVS. This study revealed that multiple lettuce accessions can be effectively benchmarked for their performance as fresh-cut sources via a CVS-based method. Future opportunities and challenges in using machine vision image processing to predict consumer preferences for RTE salad greens is also discussed.

Agriculture↗

ChemComp: Compiling and Computing with Chemical Reaction Networks

The exponential growth in computing demands driven by scientific computing, data analytics, and artificial intelligence is pushing conventional CMOS-based high-performance computing systems to their physical and energy efficiency limits. As we approach the era of post-exascale computing, disruptive approaches are necessary to overcome these barriers and achieve substantial gains in energy efficiency. Analog and hybrid digital-analog computing systems have emerged as promising alternatives, offering the potential for orders-of-magnitude improvements in efficiency. Among these, biochemical computing stands out as a novel paradigm capable of leveraging the natural efficiency of chemical reactions, which have shown promise in solving optimization problems by converging to steady states. By scaling up reaction networks or reaction vessel sizes, biochemical systems present an opportunity to meet the high-performance demands of modern computing tasks. Despite their promise, significant theoretical and practical challenges remain, particularly in formulating and mapping computational problems to chemical reaction networks (CRNs) and designing viable biochemical computing devices. This paper addresses these challenges by introducing new ideas to ChemComp, a compilation and emulation framework for chemical computation. This work describes the mechanisms through which solutions to ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that can be represented as CRN systems can be achieved. Furthermore, we explain the design principles of an ODE dialect implemented as a multi-level intermediate representation (MLIR) compiler extension that will be coupled with existing infrastructure. We demonstrate the potential of our framework through a case study emulating a simplified chemical reservoir computing device. This work establishes foundational tools and methodologies necessary to harness the computational power of chemistry, paving the way for the development of energy-efficient, high-performance computing systems tailored to contemporary and future computational needs.

Bohm Agostini, Nicolas↗

Construction of Blaze at the University of Illinois at Chicago: A Shared, High-Performance, Visual Computer for Next-Generation Cyberinfrastructure-Accelerated Scientific, Engineering, Medical and Public Policy Research

The Blaze high-performance visual computing system serves the high-performance computing research and education needs of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Blaze consists of a state-of-the-art, networked, computer cluster and ultra-high-resolution visualization system called CAVE2(TM) that is currently not available anywhere in Illinois. This system is connected via a high-speed 100-Gigabit network to the State of Illinois' I-WIRE optical network, as well as to national and international high speed networks, such as the Internet2, and the Global Lambda Integrated Facility. This enables Blaze to serve as an on-ramp to national cyberinfrastructure, such as the National Science Foundation’s Blue Waters petascale computer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Department of Energy’s Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) at Argonne National Laboratory. DOE award # DE-SC005067, leveraged with NSF award #CNS-0959053 for “Development of the Next-Generation CAVE Virtual Environment (NG-CAVE),” enabled us to create a first-of-its-kind high-performance visual computing system. The UIC Electronic Visualization Laboratory (EVL) worked with two U.S. companies to advance their commercial products and maintain U.S. leadership in the global information technology economy. New applications are being enabled with the CAVE2/Blaze visual computing system that is advancing scientific research and education in the U.S. and globally, and help train the next-generation workforce.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Collectively loading programs in a multiple program multiple data environment

Techniques are disclosed for loading programs efficiently in a parallel computing system. In one embodiment, nodes of the parallel computing system receive a load description file which indicates, for each program of a multiple program multiple data (MPMD) job, nodes which are to load the program. The nodes determine, using collective operations, a total number of programs to load and a number of programs to load in parallel. The nodes further generate a class route for each program to be loaded in parallel, where the class route generated for a particular program includes only those nodes on which the program needs to be loaded. For each class route, a node is selected using a collective operation to be a load leader which accesses a file system to load the program associated with a class route and broadcasts the program via the class route to other nodes which require the program.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Collectively loading programs in a multiple program multiple data environment

Techniques are disclosed for loading programs efficiently in a parallel computing system. In one embodiment, nodes of the parallel computing system receive a load description file which indicates, for each program of a multiple program multiple data (MPMD) job, nodes which are to load the program. The nodes determine, using collective operations, a total number of programs to load and a number of programs to load in parallel. The nodes further generate a class route for each program to be loaded in parallel, where the class route generated for a particular program includes only those nodes on which the program needs to be loaded. For each class route, a node is selected using a collective operation to be a load leader which accesses a file system to load the program associated with a class route and broadcasts the program via the class route to other nodes which require the program.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Method and apparatus for managing access to a memory

A method and apparatus for managing access to a memory of a computing system. A controller transforms a plurality of operations that represent a computing job into an operational memory layout that reduces a size of a selected portion of the memory that needs to be accessed to perform the computing job. The controller stores the operational memory layout in a plurality of memory cells within the selected portion of the memory. The controller controls a sequence by which a processor in the computing system accesses the memory to perform the computing job using the operational memory layout. The operational memory layout reduces an amount of energy consumed by the processor to perform the computing job.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

On Undecidability Aspects of Resilient Computations and Implications to Exascale

Future Exascale computing systems with a large number of processors, memory elements and interconnection links, are expected to experience multiple, complex faults, which affect both applications and operating-runtime systems. A variety of algorithms, frameworks and tools are being proposed to realize and/or verify the resilience properties of computations that guarantee correct results on failure-prone computing systems. We analytically show that certain resilient computation problems in presence of general classes of faults are undecidable, that is, no algorithms exist for solving them. We first show that the membership verification in a generic set of resilient computations is undecidable. We describe classes of faults that can create infinite loops or non-halting computations, whose detection in general is undecidable. We then show certain resilient computation problems to be undecidable by using reductions from the loop detection and halting problems under two formulations, namely, an abstract programming language and Turing machines, respectively. These two reductions highlight different failure effects: the former represents program and data corruption, and the latter illustrates incorrect program execution. These results call for broad-based, well-characterized resilience approaches that complement purely computational solutions using methods such as hardware monitors, co-designs, and system- and application-specific diagnosis codes.

Exascale systems↗

Cloud object store for checkpoints of high performance computing applications using decoupling middleware

Cloud object storage is enabled for checkpoints of high performance computing applications using a middleware process. A plurality of files, such as checkpoint files, generated by a plurality of processes in a parallel computing system are stored by obtaining said plurality of files from said parallel computing system; converting said plurality of files to objects using a log structured file system middleware process; and providing said objects for storage in a cloud object storage system. The plurality of processes may run, for example, on a plurality of compute nodes. The log structured file system middleware process may be embodied, for example, as a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS). The log structured file system middleware process optionally executes on a burst buffer node.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Compiler-generated memory mapping hints

According to one embodiment, a method of creating compiler-generated memory mapping hints in a computer system includes analyzing code, by a compiler of the computer system, to identify data access patterns in the code. System configuration information defining data processing system characteristics of a target system for the code is accessed. The data processing system characteristics include a plurality of processing resources and memory domain characteristics relative to the processing resources. A preferred allocation of data in memory domains of the target system is determined based on mapping the code to one or more selected processing resources and mapping the data to one or more of the memory domains based on the memory domain characteristics relative to the one or more selected processing resources. The preferred allocation is stored as compiler-generated memory mapping hints in a format accessible by a physical memory mapping resource of the target system.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Parallel checksumming of data chunks of a shared data object using a log-structured file system

Checksum values are generated and used to verify the data integrity. A client executing in a parallel computing system stores a data chunk to a shared data object on a storage node in the parallel computing system. The client determines a checksum value for the data chunk; and provides the checksum value with the data chunk to the storage node that stores the shared object. The data chunk can be stored on the storage node with the corresponding checksum value as part of the shared object. The storage node may be part of a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS), and the client may comprise, for example, a Log-Structured File System client on a compute node or burst buffer. The checksum value can be evaluated when the data chunk is read from the storage node to verify the integrity of the data that is read.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A machine learning decision criterion for reducing scan time for hyperspectral neutron computed tomography systems

We present the first machine learning-based autonomous hyperspectral neutron computed tomography experiment performed at the Spallation Neutron Source. Hyperspectral neutron computed tomography allows the characterization of samples by enabling the reconstruction of crystallographic information and elemental/isotopic composition of objects relevant to materials science. High quality reconstructions using traditional algorithms such as the filtered back projection require a high signal-to-noise ratio across a wide wavelength range combined with a large number of projections. This results in scan times of several days to acquire hundreds of hyperspectral projections, during which end users have minimal feedback. To address these challenges, a golden ratio scanning protocol combined with model-based image reconstruction algorithms have been proposed. This novel approach enables high quality real-time reconstructions from streaming experimental data, thus providing feedback to users, while requiring fewer yet a fixed number of projections compared to the filtered back projection method. In this paper, we propose a novel machine learning criterion that can terminate a streaming neutron tomography scan once sufficient information is obtained based on the current set of measurements. Our decision criterion uses a quality score which combines a reference-free image quality metric computed using a pre-trained deep neural network with a metric that measures differences between consecutive reconstructions. The results show that our method can reduce the measurement time by approximately a factor of five compared to a baseline method based on filtered back projection for the samples we studied while automatically terminating the scans.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Cloud object store for archive storage of high performance computing data using decoupling middleware

Cloud object storage is enabled for archived data, such as checkpoints and results, of high performance computing applications using a middleware process. A plurality of archived files, such as checkpoint files and results, generated by a plurality of processes in a parallel computing system are stored by obtaining the plurality of archived files from the parallel computing system; converting the plurality of archived files to objects using a log structured file system middleware process; and providing the objects for storage in a cloud object storage system. The plurality of processes may run, for example, on a plurality of compute nodes. The log structured file system middleware process may be embodied, for example, as a Parallel Log-Structured File System (PLFS). The log structured file system middleware process optionally executes on a burst buffer node.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Logical memory address regions

Systems, apparatuses, and methods for implementing logical memory address regions in a computing system. The physical memory address space of a computing system may be partitioned into a plurality of logical memory address regions. Each logical memory address region may be dynamically configured at run-time to meet changing application needs of the system. Each logical memory address region may also be configured separately from the other logical memory address regions. Each logical memory address region may have associated parameters that identify region start address, region size, cell-level mode, physical-to-device mapping scheme, address masks, access permissions, wear-leveling data, encryption settings, and compression settings. These parameters may be stored in a table which may be used when processing memory access requests.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

miniMD v. 1.0

Simple parallel MD code that serves as a microapplication in the Mantevo suite. Study of computer system design and implementation, benchmarking of new and existing computer systems.

CROZIER, PAUL↗

Information searching system

A method and computer system for searching a collection of documents. The method comprises first identifying text in the document and then identifying an image in the document. Then the features of the image are extracted from the document and image terms are identified from the features. Finally, the collection of documents is searched using the image terms in conjunction with text terms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Face recognition system and method using face pattern words and face pattern bytes

The present invention provides a novel system and method for identifying individuals and for face recognition utilizing facial features for face identification. The system and method of the invention comprise creating facial features or face patterns called face pattern words and face pattern bytes for face identification. The invention also provides for pattern recognitions for identification other than face recognition. The invention further provides a means for identifying individuals based on visible and/or thermal images of those individuals by utilizing computer software implemented by instructions on a computer or computer system and a computer readable medium containing instructions on a computer system for face recognition and identification.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗