Our Dynamic Future

For decades, programmers have leveraged a very stable abstract machine for large-scale parallel computation: processors that could run equally sized chunks of work in equal time were connected via a fast interconnect. This very simple abstraction has served us quite well, allowing portable and scalable codes to be run across a wide range of platforms. However, as the semiconductor industry has pushed the limits of technology, dynamic power management has emerged as a key mechanism for boosting CPU performance. This new dynamic power management system built into all modern CPUs is forcing a change to the basic abstract machine used for designing efficient parallel algorithms. Programmers must begin to find mechanisms to modify their algorithms and runtime systems to run well on more dynamic systems.