Data-Level Parallelism in Vector, SIMD, and GPU Architectures In this post, I summarize Chapter 4 in Computer Architecture A Quantitative Approach (6th) by Hennessy and Patterson (2017) Introduction Single instruction multiple data (SIMD) classification was proposed by Flynn, 1966 A question for the SIMD architecture: How wide a set of applications has significant data-level parallelism (DLP)? Matrix-oriented computations of [...]
Instruction-Level Parallelism and Its Exploitation In this post, I summarize Chapter 3 in Computer Architecture A Quantitative Approach (6th) by Hennessy and Patterson (2017) Instruction-Level Parallelism: Concepts and Challenges Instruction-level parallelism (ILP) All processors since about 1985 Pipelining to overlap the instruction execution Appendix C: Basic pipelining in “Pipelining Basic and Intermediate Concepts” This chapter + appendix [...]
“Ideally one would desire an indefinitely large memory capacity such that any particular… word would be immediately available… We are… forced to recognize the possibility of constructing a hierarchy of memories each of which has greater capacity than the preceding but which is less quickly accessible.” – A. W. Burks, H. H. Goldstine, and J. von Neumann, Preliminary Discussion [...]
“Ideally one would desire an indefinitely large memory capacity such that any particular… word would be immediately available… We are… forced to recognize the possibility of constructing a hierarchy of memories each of which has greater capacity than the preceding but which is less quickly accessible.” – A. W. Burks, H. H. Goldstine, and J. von Neumann, Preliminary Discussion [...]
Why “Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach”? When I first started studying computer architecture, I relied on textbooks like Computer Organization and Design (Patterson & Hennessy) and Digital Design and Computer Architecture (Harris & Harris) to build a solid foundation in instruction-set architecture and microprocessor basics. While these books were incredibly helpful for understanding the fundamentals, [...]
