Abstract
The GCA (Global Cellular Automata) model consists of a collection of cells which change their states synchronously depending on the states of their neighbors like in the classical CA (Cellular Automata) model. In differentiation to the CA model the neighbors are not fixed and local, they are variable and global. The GCA model is applicable to a wide range of parallel algorithms. In this paper a general purpose multiprocessor architecture for the massively parallel GCA model is presented. In contrast to a special purpose implementation of a GCA algorithm the multiprocessor system allows the implementation in a flexible way through programming. The architecture mainly consists of a set of processors (Nios II) and a network. The Nios II features a general-purpose RISC CPU architecture designed to address a wide range of applications. The network is a well-known omega network. Only read-accesses through the network are necessary in the GCA model leading to a simplified structure. A system with up to 32 processors was implemented as a prototype on an FPGA. The analysis and implementation results have shown that the performance of the system scales with the number of processors.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Hoffmann, R., Völkmann, K.P., Waldschmidt, S., Heenes, W.: GCA: Global Cellular Automata, A Flexible Parallel Model. In: Malyshkin, V.E. (ed.) PaCT 2001. LNCS, vol. 2127, p. 66. Springer, Heidelberg (2001)
von Neumann, J.: Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. University of Illinois Press, Urbana (1966)
Jendrsczok, J., Hoffmann, R., Keller, J.: Implementing Hirschberg’s PRAM-Algorithm for Connected Components on a Global Cellular Automaton. In: 21st International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), 9th Workshop on Advances in Parallel and Distributed Computational Models (2007)
Wiegand, C., Siemers, C., Richter, H.: Definition of a configurable architecture for implementation of global cellular automaton. In: Müller-Schloer, C., Ungerer, T., Bauer, B. (eds.) ARCS 2004. LNCS, vol. 2981, pp. 140–155. Springer, Heidelberg (2004)
Heenes, W., Hoffmann, R., Kanthak, S.: FPGA Implementations of the Massively Parallel GCA Model. In: International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), Workshop on Massively Parallel Processing (WMPP) (2005)
Heenes, W., Völkmann, K.P., Hoffmann, R.: Architekturen für den globalen Zellularautomat. In: 19. PARS Workshop, Gesellschaft für Informatik (GI) (2003)
Hoffmann, R., Völkmann, K.P., Heenes, W.: GCA: A massively parallel Model. In: International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), Workshop on Massively Parallel Processing (WMPP) (2003)
Heenes, W., Hoffmann, R., Jendrsczok, J.: A Multiprocessor Architecture for the Massively Parallel Model GCA. In: International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium (IPDPS), Workshop on System Management Tools for Large-Scale Parallel Systems (SMTPS) (2006)
Heenes, W.: Entwurf und Realisierung von massivparallelen Architekturen für Globale Zellulare Automaten. PhD thesis, Technische Universität Darmstadt (2007)
Ryu, K.K., Shin, E., Mooney, V.J.: A Comparison of Five Different Multiprocessor SoC Bus Architectures. In: DSD 2001: Proceedings of the Euromicro Symposium on Digital Systems Design, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 202–209. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2001)
Kulmala, A., Salminen, E., Hämäläinen, T.D.: Evaluating Large System-on-Chip on Multi-FPGA Platform. In: Vassiliadis, S., Bereković, M., Hämäläinen, T.D. (eds.) SAMOS 2007. LNCS, vol. 4599, pp. 179–189. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)
Heenes, W.: Globaler Zellularer Automat: Algorithmen und Architekturen. Master’s thesis, Technische Universität Darmstadt (2001)
Altera, NIOS II Website (2009), http://www.altera.com/products/ip/processors/nios2/ni2-index.html
Ungerer, T.: Parallelrechner und parallele Programmierung. Spektrum Akademischer Verlag, Heidelberg (1997)
Altera, Datasheet Cyclone II (2006), http://www.altera.com/literature/hb/cyc2/cyc2_cii5v1.pdf
Weiss, A.R.: Dhrystone benchmark - history, analysis,“scores” and recommendations (2002), http://www.ebenchmarks.com/download/ECLDhrystoneWhitePaper.pdf
Altera, Datasheet Stratix II (2006), http://www.altera.com/literature/hb/stx2/stratix2_handbook.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schäck, C., Heenes, W., Hoffmann, R. (2009). A Multiprocessor Architecture with an Omega Network for the Massively Parallel Model GCA. In: Bertels, K., Dimopoulos, N., Silvano, C., Wong, S. (eds) Embedded Computer Systems: Architectures, Modeling, and Simulation. SAMOS 2009. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5657. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03138-0_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-03138-0_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-03137-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-03138-0
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)