With regard to the possibilities regarding parallelism and J, I posted to Jchat on Sat Dec 30 00:59:01 HKT 2006. My message is entitled 'parallel processing via NVIDIA CUDA'. In contrast with the "coarse-grain parallelism" available with dual-core and quad-core main processors, fine-grained hardware innovations such as this one provide array-like processor configurations. The potential for this to fit with array programming languages such as J seems natural.
The following is quoted from the NVIDIA website, at http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda.html What is CUDA technology? GPU computing with CUDA technology is an innovative combination of computing features in next generation NVIDIA GPUs that are accessed through a standard C language. Where previous generation GPUs were based on streaming shader programs, CUDA programmers use C to create programs called threads that are similar to multi-threading programs on traditional CPUs. In contrast to multi-core CPUs, where only a few threads execute at the same time, NVIDIA GPUs featuring CUDA technology process thousands of threads simultaneously enabling a higher capacity of information flow. One of the most important innovations offered by CUDA technology is the ability for threads on NVIDIA GPUs to cooperate when solving a problem. By enabling threads to communicate, CUDA technology allows applications to operate more efficiently. NVIDIA GPUs featuring CUDA technology have a Parallel Data Cache that saves frequently used information directly on the GPU. Storing information on the GPU allows computing threads to instantly share information rather than wait for data from much slower, off-chip DRAMs. This advance in technology enables users to find the answers to complex computational problems in real-time. <end quotation> ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For information about J forums see http://www.jsoftware.com/forums.htm
