Physics of Plasmas · 2008 · 475 citations · 16 references
Natural SciencesHigh-performance ComputingPhysicsComputational PhysicsPlasma PhysicsScientific ComputingAccelerator PhysicsData Movement OptimizationData ParallelismParticle-based SimulationPlasma Kinetic TheoryPlasma SimulationAcceleratorsHigh-performance Plasma ComputationKinetic Plasma SimulationsParticle-in-cell SimulationsRelativistic Plasma DynamicsRelativistic PlasmasSupercomputer Architecture
VPIC is a state‑of‑the‑art 3D electromagnetic relativistic kinetic particle‑in‑cell code whose algorithms, implementation, and applications are described. VPIC minimizes data movement, recognizing that data transfer is slower than computation on modern microprocessors. VPIC has achieved unprecedented performance—pushing ~0.17 billion cold particles per second per processor on IBM’s Cell, equivalent to ~0.56 petaflop—and has enabled previously intractable plasma‑physics simulations such as magnetic reconnection and laser‑plasma interactions, with future supercomputers promising further advances.
The algorithms, implementation details, and applications of VPIC, a state-of-the-art first principles 3D electromagnetic relativistic kinetic particle-in-cell code, are discussed. Unlike most codes, VPIC is designed to minimize data motion, as, due to physical limitations (including the speed of light!), moving data between and even within modern microprocessors is more time consuming than performing computations. As a result, VPIC has achieved unprecedented levels of performance. For example, VPIC can perform ∼0.17 billion cold particles pushed and charge conserving accumulated per second per processor on IBM’s Cell microprocessor—equivalent to sustaining Los Alamos’s planned Roadrunner supercomputer at ∼0.56 petaflop (quadrillion floating point operations per second). VPIC has enabled previously intractable simulations in numerous areas of plasma physics, including magnetic reconnection and laser plasma interactions; next generation supercomputers like Roadrunner will enable further advances.
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Introduction to the Cell multiprocessor
J. Kahle, Michael Day, H. Peter Hofstee et al. · IBM Journal of Research and Development · 2005 · 941 citations