Parallelism Quiz with Answers PDF

Questions and Answers

What type of parallelism is achieved by SIMD?

Pipeline parallelism

Data parallelism (correct)

Instruction parallelism

Task parallelism

What happens if there are fewer ALUs than data items in SIMD?

Increase the number of ALUs dynamically

Divide the work and process iteratively (correct)

Ignore the excess data items

Switch to task parallelism

In classic design, what is required for the ALUs in SIMD?

They must have individual instruction storage

They must have dynamic instruction allocation

They must operate asynchronously

They must operate synchronously (correct)

What type of problems is SIMD efficient for?

Large data parallel problems Signup and view all the answers

What type of processors are mentioned as an alternative to SIMD?

Vector processors Signup and view all the answers

What is the main characteristic of a Distributed Memory System cluster?

Composed of commodity systems connected by a commodity interconnection network Signup and view all the answers

How does the number of devices connected to a bus interconnect affect performance?

As the number of devices increases, contention for bus use increases, and performance decreases Signup and view all the answers

What are the two categories of interconnection networks mentioned?

Shared memory interconnects, distributed memory interconnects Signup and view all the answers

What are the individual computation units in a cluster of a Distributed Memory System called?

Nodes Signup and view all the answers

What is another term used to refer to a Distributed Memory System cluster?

Hybrid systems Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Parallelism in SIMD

SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) achieves data parallelism, where a single instruction is executed on multiple data items simultaneously.

ALUs in SIMD

If there are fewer ALUs (Arithmetic Logic Units) than data items in SIMD, the processing is done in batches, with each batch requiring a separate clock cycle.
In classic design, ALUs in SIMD are required to be identical, with each ALU performing the same operation on different data items.

Efficiency of SIMD

SIMD is efficient for problems that involve the same operation on a large dataset, such as scientific simulations, image processing, and data compression.

Alternative to SIMD

Vector processors are mentioned as an alternative to SIMD, which also perform the same operation on multiple data items, but with a different architecture.

Distributed Memory System Cluster

The main characteristic of a Distributed Memory System cluster is that each node has its own local memory, and data is exchanged between nodes using interconnection networks.

Interconnection Networks

The number of devices connected to a bus interconnect affects performance, as it increases the latency and reduces the bandwidth of the network.
There are two categories of interconnection networks: static networks (e.g., mesh, torus) and dynamic networks (e.g., bus, switch).

Computation Units in a Cluster

The individual computation units in a cluster of a Distributed Memory System are called nodes.

Alternative Term for Distributed Memory System

A Distributed Memory System cluster is also referred to as a cluster computer or a massively parallel processor (MPP).

Description

Test your knowledge of Single Instruction, Multiple Data (SIMD) parallelism with this quiz. Explore how data is divided among processors and how the same instruction is applied to multiple data items.