Novel graph processor architecture, prototype system, and results
September 13, 2016
Conference Paper
Author:
Published in:
HPEC 2016: IEEE Conf. on High Performance Extreme Computing, 13-15 September 2016.
Summary
Graph algorithms are increasingly used in applications that exploit large databases. However, conventional processor architectures are inadequate for handling the throughput and memory requirements of graph computation. Lincoln Laboratory's graph-processor architecture represents a rethinking of parallel architectures for graph problems. Our processor utilizes innovations that include a sparse matrix-based graph instruction set, a cacheless memory system, accelerator-based architecture, a systolic sorter, high-bandwidth multidimensional toroidal communication network, and randomized communications. A field-programmable gate array (FPGA) prototype of the new graph processor has been developed with significant performance enhancement over conventional processors in graph computational throughput.