Enhancing GPU parallelism in nature-inspired algorithms

• Published in: The Journal of supercomputing Vol. 63; no. 3; pp. 773 - 789
• Main Authors: Cecilia, José M., Nisbet, Andy, Amos, Martyn, García, José M., Ujaldón, Manuel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.03.2013
• Subjects: Algorithms; Ant colony optimization; Compilers; Computer Science; Dynamical systems; Dynamics; Forages; Hardware; Hierarchies; Interpreters; Optimization; Processor Architectures; Programming Languages; Bioinspired methods; HPC; ACO; GPUs; P systems
• ISSN: 0920-8542; 1573-0484
• DOI: 10.1007/s11227-012-0770-1

We present GPU implementations of two different nature-inspired optimization methods for well-known optimization problems. Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) is a two-stage population-based method modelled on the foraging behaviour of ants, while P systems provide a high-level computational modelling framework that combines the structure and dynamic aspects of biological systems (in particular, their parallel and non-deterministic nature). Our methods focus on exploiting data parallelism and memory hierarchy to obtain GPU factor gains surpassing 20x for any of the two stages of the ACO algorithm, and 16x for P systems when compared to sequential versions running on a single-threaded high-end CPU. Additionally, we compare performance between GPU generations to validate hardware enhancements introduced by Nvidia’s Fermi architecture.