Introduction to Parallel Programming Quiz

What was the average annual increase in performance of microprocessors from 1986 to 2002?

What was the average annual increase in performance of microprocessors after 2002?

What was the proposed solution instead of designing and building faster microprocessors?

What is the primary concern regarding the addition of more processors?

What is the main focus of the chapter 'Why Parallel Computing'?

What is the main purpose of pairing the cores as described in the text?

In the parallel algorithm described, how many additions does the master core perform in the first example?

How many times does the process of adding results repeat in the second example?

What is the primary advantage of the second example over the first example?

How is the improvement in the second example quantified in comparison to the first example?

Microprocessor Performance Increases

Average annual performance increase from 1986 to 2002 was around 55%.
After 2002, the average annual performance increase dropped to approximately 25%.

Solutions for Performance Enhancements

Instead of solely focusing on faster microprocessor designs, the proposed solution emphasizes parallel computing and multi-core processors.

Concerns with More Processors

Primary concern with adding more processors is the complexity of efficiently managing and utilizing parallelism in software.

Focus of 'Why Parallel Computing'

The chapter highlights the importance of parallel computing in overcoming the limitations of single-thread performance and leveraging multiple processing units.

Purpose of Pairing Cores

Pairing cores aims to improve overall processing efficiency by enabling parallel task execution, thus optimizing performance without drastically increasing clock speeds.

Master Core Additions in Examples

In the first example of the parallel algorithm, the master core performs a single addition.

Result Addition Repetition in the Second Example

In the second example, the addition results are combined multiple times, illustrating a more efficient reduction process.

Advantages of the Second Example

The primary advantage of the second example over the first is the significant reduction in the number of operations required, resulting in faster overall processing.

Quantifying Improvement in Examples

Improvement in the second example is quantified by a proportional decrease in the number of additions necessary, highlighting enhanced efficiency compared to the first example.

Explore the fundamentals of parallel programming with this quiz based on Chapter 1 of "An Introduction to Parallel Programming" by Peter Pacheco. Test your knowledge on the need for parallel computing, writing parallel programs, and understanding concurrent, parallel, and distributed systems.