1 - Introduction Flashcards
Why do we parallelise?
To solve bigger problems, solve more problems (faster), reduce power consumption related to computation (cheaper)
What is the analogy for parallel processing?
Teamwork!
What was driving optimisation through increasing speed of serial processors?
Moore’s Law
What is Moore’s Law?
The number of transistors on a chip doubles approximately every two years
What does more transistors on a chip mean?
Deeper instruction pipelining, more operations per time period and perform more complicated instructions
What is the transistor clock speed?
Speed of switching between on and off
What are the power considerations of frequency scaling?
The faster we switch transistors on and off the more heat will be generated
What is the formula for power consumption
Capacitance x Voltage ^2 x Frequency
What does increasing F require in the power consumption formula?
Increasing V for a given transistor size
What is the technology trend of transistors?
Clock rate is flattening sharply
What is the work analogy for serial processing?
Increase the clock rate = making the person work faster
What is the work analogy for parallel processing?
Multiple processing cores = workforce group, organising, strategy
