Intel Xeon Phi Coprocessor For Highly Parallel Processing

Math coprocessors Intel Xeon Phi are modern high-performance computing modules. They provide exceptional double-precision performance (up to one trillion operations per second). These processors will find their place where there is a need for complex and resource-intensive calculations, for example, to support life science applications or applications that simulate changes in financial indicators.

Intel Xeon Phi Coprocessor For Highly Parallel Processing

Features of Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors:

Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors are based on the 64-bit x86 architecture, so these compute modules do not require the use of specialized functions, unlike NVIDIA coprocessors based on the CUDA architecture, so the user can use already written program code, it is enough just to recompile to increase throughput capabilities.

Any code written for the Intel Xeon processor family is supported by these coprocessors. This greatly simplifies software development.

The Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors are based on 3D Tri-Gate transistors, which are manufactured using a 22nm process technology. They provide an excellent performance/power ratio for highly parallel workloads.

Each processor core has 256-bit registers, thanks to which four numbers can be used as an operand and the operation can be performed not on a single number, but on a vector. A special extension of the Intel Advanced Vector eXtensions processor instruction set supports this feature.

In the core of the Xeon Phi processor, several arithmetic-logical units are allocated, focused on performing calculations of various types. Due to this, a high degree of parallelism is achieved: in one clock cycle, the processor can perform up to eight operations on double precision numbers. In fact, instead of operations on scalar operands, the processor performs operations on vectors. Adaptation of the program code to this type of calculation is performed at the compilation stage, however, the programmer can optimize the program code, increasing the efficiency of vectorization.

Effective interaction of Intel Xeon Phi with memory:

As you know, the performance of a computing system is affected not only by the processor’s own power but also by the efficiency of its interaction with memory.

In systems with shared memory, the OpenMP standard has been specially developed, which includes a set of libraries, environment variables, and compiler directives designed to implement multi-threaded applications in systems with a large number of processors and processor cores with shared memory.

In systems with distributed memory (for example, when solving problems on the nodes of a computing cluster), the organization of information exchange is carried out in accordance with the MPI standard.

Xeon Phi processor modules provide highly parallel data processing, providing reliable and efficient support for the most demanding applications.

Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors support up to 61 cores and up to 244 threads. A large selection of different configurations allows you to choose the most suitable option according to workloads, the required level of performance, and efficiency.

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