Parallel Algorithm Models

The data-parallel model is one of the simplest algorithm models. In this model, the tasks are statically or semi-statically mapped onto processes and each task performs similar operations on different data. This type of parallelism that is a result of identical operations being applied concurrently on different data items is called data parallelism. The work may be done in phases and the data operated upon in different phases may be different. Typically, data-parallel computation phases are interspersed with interactions to synchronize the tasks or to get fresh data to the tasks. Since all tasks perform similar computations, the decomposition of the problem into tasks is usually based on data partitioning because a uniform partitioning of data followed by a static mapping is sufficient to guarantee load balance.

Data-parallel algorithms can be implemented in both shared-address-space and message-passing paradigms. However, the partitioned address-space in a message-passing paradigm may allow better control of placement, and thus may offer a better handle on locality. On the other hand, shared-address space can ease the programming effort, especially if the distribution of data is different in different phases of the algorithm. Interaction overheads in the data-parallel model can be minimized by choosing a locality preserving decomposition and, if applicable, by overlapping computation and interaction and by using optimized collective interaction routines. A key characteristic of data-parallel problems is that for most problems, the degree of data parallelism increases with the size of the problem, making it possible to use more processes to effectively solve larger problems.

the computations in any parallel algorithm can be viewed as a task-dependency graph. The task-dependency graph may be either trivial, as in the case of matrix multiplication, or nontrivial (Problem 3.5). However, in certain parallel algorithms, the task-dependency graph is explicitly used in mapping. In the task graph model, the interrelationships among the tasks are utilized to promote locality or to reduce interaction costs. This model is typically employed to solve problems in which the amount of data associated with the tasks is large relative to the amount of computation associated with them. Usually, tasks are mapped statically to help optimize the cost of data movement among tasks. Sometimes a decentralized dynamic mapping may be used, but even then, the mapping uses the information about the task-dependency graph structure and the interaction pattern of tasks to minimize interaction overhead. Work is more easily shared in paradigms with globally addressable space, but mechanisms are available to share work in disjoint address space. Typical interaction-reducing techniques applicable to this model include reducing the volume and frequency of interaction by promoting locality while mapping the tasks based on the interaction pattern of tasks, and using asynchronous interaction methods to overlap the interaction with computation.

The work pool or the task pool model is characterized by a dynamic mapping of tasks onto processes for load balancing in which any task may potentially be performed by any process. There is no desired premapping of tasks onto processes. The mapping may be centralized or decentralized. Pointers to the tasks may be stored in a physically shared list, priority queue, hash table, or tree, or they could be stored in a physically distributed data structure. The work may be statically available in the beginning, or could be dynamically generated; i.e., the processes may generate work and add it to the global (possibly distributed) work pool. If the work is generated dynamically and a decentralized mapping is used, then a termination detection algorithm ( Section 11.4.4 ) would be required so that all processes can actually detect the completion of the entire program (i.e., exhaustion of all potential tasks) and stop looking for more work. In the message-passing paradigm, the work pool model is typically used when the amount of data associated with tasks is relatively small compared to the computation associated with the tasks. As a result, tasks can be readily moved around without causing too much data interaction overhead. The granularity of the tasks can be adjusted to attain the desired level of tradeoff between load-imbalance and the overhead of accessing the work pool for adding and extracting tasks.

In the master-slave or the manager-worker model, one or more master processes generate work and allocate it to worker processes. The tasks may be allocated a priori if the manager can estimate the size of the tasks or if a random mapping can do an adequate job of load balancing. In another scenario, workers are assigned smaller pieces of work at different times. The latter scheme is preferred if it is time consuming for the master to generate work and hence it is not desirable to make all workers wait until the master has generated all work pieces. In some cases, work may need to be performed in phases, and work in each phase must finish before work in the next phases can be generated. In this case, the manager may cause all workers to synchronize after each phase. Usually, there is no desired premapping of work to processes, and any worker can do any job assigned to it. The manager-worker model can be generalized to the hierarchical or multi-level manager-worker model in which the top-level manager feeds large chunks of tasks to second-level managers, who further subdivide the tasks among their own workers and may perform part of the work themselves. This model is generally equally suitable to shared-address-space or message-passing paradigms since the interaction is naturally two-way; i.e., the manager knows that it needs to give out work and workers know that they need to get work from the manager.

While using the master-slave model, care should be taken to ensure that the master does not become a bottleneck, which may happen if the tasks are too small (or the workers are relatively fast). The granularity of tasks should be chosen such that the cost of doing work dominates the cost of transferring work and the cost of synchronization. Asynchronous interaction may help overlap interaction and the computation associated with work generation by the master. It may also reduce waiting times if the nature of requests from workers is non-deterministic.

In the pipeline model, a stream of data is passed on through a succession of processes, each of which perform some task on it. This simultaneous execution of different programs on a data stream is called stream parallelism. With the exception of the process initiating the pipeline, the arrival of new data triggers the execution of a new task by a process in the pipeline. The processes could form such pipelines in the shape of linear or multidimensional arrays, trees, or general graphs with or without cycles. A pipeline is a chain of producers and consumers. Each process in the pipeline can be viewed as a consumer of a sequence of data items for the process preceding it in the pipeline and as a producer of data for the process following it in the pipeline. The pipeline does not need to be a linear chain; it can be a directed graph. The pipeline model usually involves a static mapping of tasks onto processes. Load balancing is a function of task granularity. The larger the granularity, the longer it takes to fill up the pipeline, i.e. for the trigger produced by the first process in the chain to propagate to the last process, thereby keeping some of the processes waiting. However, too fine a granularity may increase interaction overheads because processes will need to interact to receive fresh data after smaller pieces of computation. The most common interaction reduction technique applicable to this model is overlapping interaction with computation.

In some cases, more than one model may be applicable to the problem at hand, resulting in a hybrid algorithm model. A hybrid model may be composed either of multiple models applied hierarchically or multiple models applied sequentially to different phases of a parallel algorithm. In some cases, an algorithm formulation may have characteristics of more than one algorithm model. For instance, data may flow in a pipelined manner in a pattern guided by a task-dependency graph. In another scenario, the major computation may be described by a task-dependency graph, but each node of the graph may represent a supertask comprising multiple subtasks that may be suitable for data-parallel or pipelined parallelism.

GRAMA, GUPTA. Introduction to Parallel Computing 2nd Edition. Pearson Addison Wesley.

Parallel Algorithm Models

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Parallel Algorithm Models