Cache oblivious stencil computations

Abstract

We present a cache oblivious algorithm for stencil computations, which arise for example in finite-difference methods. Our algorithm applies to arbitrary stencils in n-dimensional spaces. On an "ideal cache" of size Z, our algorithm saves a factor of Θ(Z1/n) cache misses compared to a naive algorithm, and it exploits temporal locality optimally throughout the entire memory hierarchy.