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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Demonstrating GPU code portability and scalability for radiative heat transfer computations

High performance computing frameworks utilizing CPUs, Nvidia GPUs, and/or Intel Xeon Phis necessitate portable and scalable solutions for application developers. Nvidia GPUs in particular present numerous portability challenges with a different programming model, additional memory hierarchies, and partitioned execution units among streaming multiprocessors. This work presents modifications to the Uintah asynchronous many-task runtime and the Kokkos portability library to enable one single codebase for complex multiphysics applications to run across different architectures. Scalability and performance results are shown on multiple architectures for a globally coupled radiation heat transfer simulation, ranging from a single node to 16,384 Titan compute nodes.

Computer Science↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exploring code portability solutions for HEP with a particle tracking test code

Traditionally, high energy physics (HEP) experiments have relied on x86 CPUs for the majority of their significant computing needs. As the field looks ahead to the next generation of experiments such as DUNE and the High-Luminosity LHC, the computing demands are expected to increase dramatically. To cope with this increase, it will be necessary to take advantage of all available computing resources, including GPUs from different vendors. A broad landscape of code portability tools—including compiler pragma-based approaches, abstraction libraries, and other tools—allow the same source code to run efficiently on multiple architectures. In this paper, we use a test code taken from a HEP tracking algorithm to compare the performance and experience of implementing different portability solutions. While in several cases portable implementations perform close to the reference code version, we find that the performance varies significantly depending on the details of the implementation. Achieving optimal performance is not easy, even for relatively simple applications such as the test codes considered in this work. Several factors can affect the performance, such as the choice of the memory layout, the memory pinning strategy, and the compiler used. The compilers and tools are being actively developed, so future developments may be critical for their deployment in HEP experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Managing code transformations for better performance portability

Code optimization is an intricate task that is getting more complex as computing systems evolve. Managing the program optimization process, including the implementation and evaluation of code variants, is tedious, inefficient, and errors are likely to be introduced in the process. Moreover, because each platform typically requires a different sequence of transformations to fully harness its computing power, the optimization process complexity grows as new platforms are adopted. To address these issues, systems and frameworks have been proposed to automate the code optimization process. They, however, have not been widely adopted and are primarily used by experts with deep knowledge about underlying architecture and compiler intricacies. This article describes the requirements that we believe necessary for making automatic performance tuning more broadly used, especially in complex, long-lived high-performance computing applications. Besides discussing limitations of current systems and strategies to overcome these, we describe the design of a system that is able to semi-automatically generate efficient platform-specific code. In the proposed system, the code optimization is programmer-guided, separately from application code, on an external file in what we call optimization programming. The language to program the optimization process is able to represent complex collections of transformations and, as a result, generate efficient platform-specific code. A database manages different optimized versions of code regions, providing a pragmatic approach to performance portability, and the framework itself has separate components, allowing the optimized code to be used on systems without installing all of the modules required for the code generation. We present experiments on two different platforms to illustrate the generation of efficient platform-specific code that performs comparable to hand-optimized, vendor-provided code.

Computer Science↗
NASA NTRS2005

Data-Driven Software Framework for Web-Based ISS Telescience

Software that enables authorized users to monitor and control scientific payloads aboard the International Space Station (ISS) from diverse terrestrial locations equipped with Internet connections is undergoing development. This software reflects a data-driven approach to distributed operations. A Web-based software framework leverages prior developments in Java and Extensible Markup Language (XML) to create portable code and portable data, to which one can gain access via Web-browser software on almost any common computer. Open-source software is used extensively to minimize cost; the framework also accommodates enterprise-class server software to satisfy needs for high performance and security. To accommodate the diversity of ISS experiments and users, the framework emphasizes openness and extensibility. Users can take advantage of available viewer software to create their own client programs according to their particular preferences, and can upload these programs for custom processing of data, generation of views, and planning of experiments. The same software system, possibly augmented with a subset of data and additional software tools, could be used for public outreach by enabling public users to replay telescience experiments, conduct their experiments with simulated payloads, and create their own client programs and other custom software.

Tso, Kam S.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Portable C++ Code that can Look and Feel Like Fortran Code with Yet Another Kernel Launcher (YAKL)

This paper introduces the Yet Another Kernel Launcher (YAKL) C++ portability library, which strives to enable user-level code with the look and feel of Fortran code. The intended audience includes both C++ developers and Fortran developers unfamiliar with C++. The C++ portability approach is briefly explained, YAKL’s main features are described, and code examples are given that demonstrate YAKL’s usage. YAKL fills a niche capability important particularly to scientific applications seeking to port Fortran code quickly to a portable C++ library. YAKL places heavy emphasis on simplicity, readability, and productivity with performance mainly emphasizing Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Central to YAKL’s ability to allow Fortran-like user-level code are three features: (1) a multi-dimensional Array class that allows Fortran behavior; (2) a limited library of Fortran intrinsic functions; and (3) an efficient pool allocator that transparently enables cheap frequent allocations and deallocations of YAKL Arrays. While YAKL allows Fortran-style code, it also allows Arrays that exhibit C-like behavior as well, including row-major index ordering and lower bounds of “0”. YAKL currently supports CPUs, CPU threading, and Nvidia, AMD, and Intel GPUs.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-112: An OpenCL-Based Cross-Platform Monte Carlo Dose Engine (oclMC) for Coupled Photon-Electron Transport

Purpose: Low computational efficiency of Monte Carlo (MC) dose calculation impedes its clinical applications. Although a number of MC dose packages have been developed over the past few years, enabling fast MC dose calculations, most of these packages were developed under NVidia’s CUDA environment. This limited their code portability to other platforms, hindering the introduction of GPU-based MC dose engines to clinical practice. To solve this problem, we developed a cross-platform fast MC dose engine named oclMC under OpenCL environment for external photon and electron radiotherapy. Methods: Coupled photon-electron simulation was implemented with standard analogue simulation scheme for photon transport and Class II condensed history scheme for electron transport. We tested the accuracy and efficiency of oclMC by comparing the doses calculated using oclMC and gDPM, a previously developed GPU-based MC code on NVidia GPU platform, for a 15MeV electron beam and a 6MV photon beam in a homogenous water phantom, a water-bone-lung-water slab phantom and a half-slab phantom. We also tested code portability of oclMC on different devices, including an NVidia GPU, two AMD GPUs and an Intel CPU. Results: Satisfactory agreements were observed in all photon and electron cases, with ∼0.48%–0.53% average dose differences at regions within 10% isodose line for electron beam cases and ∼0.15%–0.17% for photon beam cases. It took oclMC 3–4 sec to perform transport simulation for electron beam on NVidia Titan GPU and 35–51 sec for photon beam, both with ∼0.5% statistical uncertainty. The computation was 6%–17% slower than gDPM due to the differences in both physics model and development environment, which is considered not significant for clinical applications. In terms of code portability, gDPM only runs on NVidia GPUs, while oclMC successfully runs on all the tested devices. Conclusion: oclMC is an accurate and fast MC dose engine. Its high cross-platform portability makes it clinically attractive.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

The SENSEI Generic In Situ Interface

The SENSEI generic in situ interface is an API that promotes code portability and reusability. From the simulation view, a developer can instrument their code with the SENSEI API and then make make use of any number of in situ infrastructures. From the method view, a developer can write an in situ method using the SENSEI API, then expect it to run in any number of in situ infrastructures, or be invoked directly from a simulation code, with little or no modification. This paper presents the design principles underlying the SENSEI generic interface, along with some simplified coding examples.

Ayachit, Utkarsh↗
DOE OSTI2020

CHAI and RAJA Extensions

CHAI and RAJA provide an excellent base on which to build portable codes. CARE expands that functionality, adding new features such as loop fusion capability and a portable interface for many numerical algorithms. It provides all the basics for anyone wanting to write portable code.

ROBINSON, PeterB↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-673: Recent Developments and Comprehensive Validations of a GPU-Based Proton Monte Carlo Simulation Package, GPMC

Purpose: A GPU-based Monte Carlo (MC) simulation package gPMC has been previously developed and high computational efficiency was achieved. This abstract reports our recent improvements on this package in terms of accuracy, functionality, and code portability. Methods: In the latest version of gPMC, nuclear interaction cross section database was updated to include data from TOPAS/Geant4. Inelastic interaction model, particularly the proton scattering angle distribution, was updated to improve overall simulation accuracy. Calculation of dose averaged LET (LETd) was implemented. gPMC was ported onto an OpenCL environment to enable portability across different computing devices (GPUs from different vendors and CPUs). We also performed comprehensive tests of the code accuracy. Dose from electro-magnetic (EM) interaction channel, primary and secondary proton doses and fluences were scored and compared with those computed by TOPAS. Results: In a homogeneous water phantom with 100 and 200 MeV beams, mean dose differences in EM channel computed by gPMC and by TOPAS were 0.28% and 0.65% of the corresponding maximum dose, respectively. With the Geant4 nuclear interaction cross section data, mean difference of primary proton dose was 0.84% for the 200 MeV case and 0.78% for the 100 MeV case. After updating inelastic interaction model, maximum difference of secondary proton fluence and dose were 0.08% and 0.5% for the 200 MeV beam, and 0.04% and 0.2% for the 100 MeV beam. In a test case with a 150MeV proton beam, the mean difference between LETd computed by gPMC and TOPAS was 0.96% within the proton range. With the OpenCL implementation, gPMC is executable on AMD and Nvidia GPUs, as well as on Intel CPU in single or multiple threads. Results on different platforms agreed within statistical uncertainty. Conclusion: Several improvements have been implemented in the latest version of gPMC, which enhanced its accuracy, functionality, and code portability.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Development and evaluation of a portable CZT coded aperture gamma-camera

We present the design and the evaluation of a CdZnTe (CZT) based gamma camera using a coded aperture mask. This camera, based on a 8 cm{sup 3} detection module, is small enough to be portable and battery-powered (4 kg weight and 4 W power dissipation). As the detector has spectral capabilities, the gamma camera allows isotope identification and colored imaging, by affecting one color channel to each identified isotope. As all data processing is done at real time, the user can directly observe the outcome of an acquisition and can immediately react to what he sees. We first present the architecture of the system, how the detector works, and its performances. After, we focus on the imaging technique used and its strengths and limitations. Finally, results concerning sensitivity, spatial resolution, field of view and multi-isotope imaging are shown and discussed. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2024

FLEXO: A Portably Performant Code for Pulsed Power Target Physics

FLEXO (Flux-Limited Extended-MHD Ohm's Law) is a production-line multiphysics code developed at Sandia to enable more predictive modeling of target physics on pulsed-power devices. FLEXO uses an extended magnetohydrodynamics (XMHD) model which includes a generalized Ohm's law (GOL), an electron inertia term, and Hall physics. This report describes the code's numerical methods, its computational performance, and test problems of interest.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1968

Portable Pulse Code Modulation /PCM/

Small, programmable, high speed PCM subsystem, supports the variety of signals inherent in sophisticated equipment. A signal generated by a transducer is first conditioned to the proper signal range, then sampled by an external multiplexer or by the subsystem directly and then converted and transmitted to a receiving station.

Bradanini, P. A.↗
DOE OSTI2018

An Empirical Roofline Methodology for Quantitatively Assessing Performance Portability

System and node architectures continue to diversify to better balance on-node computation, memory capacity, memory bandwidth, interconnect bandwidth, power, and cost for specific computational workloads. For many application developers, achieving performance portability (effectively exploiting the capabilities of multiple architectures) is a desired goal. Unfortunately, dramatically different per-node performance coupled with differences in machine balance can lead to developers being unable to determine whether they have attained performance portability or simply written portable code. The Roofline model provides a means of quantitatively assessing how well a given application makes use of a target platform’s computational capabilities. In this paper, we extend the Roofline model so that it 1) empirically captures a more realistic set of performance bounds for CPUs and GPUs, 2) factors in the true cost of different floating-point instructions when counting FLOPs, 3) incorporates the effects of different memory access patterns, and 4) with appropriate pairing of code performance and Roofline ceiling, facilitates the performance portability analysis.

Computer Science↗