Optimizing use of OpenCL for AMD Fusion APUs
AMD has announced a new collaboration with Multicoreware to deliver an advanced set of tools for OpenCL optimization. The tools development effort accelerates software developers’ ability to create and optimize software that fully exploits the unique processing capability of AMD Fusion Accelerated Processing Units (APUs).
“Accelerated parallel processing represents unprecedented levels of computing capability in mobile form factors, and the tools suite that Multicoreware is developing enables application developers to achieve this performance benefit with less effort,” said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program. “Our work with Multicoreware marks another milestone toward broad industry adoption of OpenCL as we equip developers with necessary tools to build innovative, next-generation applications ranging from consumer PCs to high-performance computing.
“Our work with AMD is designed to specifically tackle major development challenges the software ecosystem is currently facing, such as maximizing compute utilization, efficiently handling data movement and minimizing dependencies across cores. With improved tools in place, developers will be able to optimize applications to run on powerful heterogeneous and multi-core architectures with ease, and take full advantage of programmable platforms,” said Professor Wen-Mei Hwu, chief technology officer, Multicoreware. “OpenCL is incredibly important as an industry-standard programming environment that enables developers to focus on applications, not just chip architecture. We foresee these tools driving impactful innovation that can lead to some unbelievable new applications.”
AMD and Multicoreware are committed to working together to continue fueling broad industry adoption of OpenCL. The advanced set of tools is designed to work across all relevant vendor hardware, encouraging expansive OpenCL deployment for heterogeneous computing, APUs, as well as discrete CPUs and GPU computing. Previews and tools are scheduled to be available later in 2011.
For developers interested in heterogeneous computing, AMD will be holding its first AMD Fusion Developer Summit (AFDS) from June 13-16 in Bellevue, Washington. Summit participants will be able to engage in interactive sessions and hands-on labs to deepen their knowledge of advanced CPU and GPU programmability, and gain a better understanding of how software applications can take full advantage of the parallel processing power of APUs, bringing supercomputer-like performance to everyday computing tasks. Attendees also will have the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge about OpenCL optimization from Multicoreware in three technical sessions and one pre-summit tutorial at AFDS.
