Box 8.3Multiple Processors Complicate the Problem

  • Data is shared among processors
  • Latency (data access time) increases
  • Bandwidth (volume of data communication) varies
  • Performance components become more non-uniform
  • Processors must be scheduled (assigned a part of the overall computational task)
  • Strategies are different depending on architecture
  • End-to-end performance requires
    • Keeping together all the processors busy doing useful work
    • Having the right data in the right place as soon as it's needed

From: 8, A Computer Science Perspective on Computing for the Chemical Sciences

Cover of Impact of Advances in Computing and Communications Technologies on Chemical Science and Technology
Impact of Advances in Computing and Communications Technologies on Chemical Science and Technology: Report of a Workshop.
National Research Council (US) Chemical Sciences Roundtable.
Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 1999.
Copyright © 1999, National Academy of Sciences.

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