GPU Architecture and Programming
GPU Architecture and Programming
Introduction
Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) were originally designed for rendering graphics but have evolved into
powerful processors for general-purpose computing. Due to their massively parallel architecture, GPUs are
Core Components
- Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs): The basic execution units that contain many CUDA cores.
- CUDA Cores: Handle arithmetic and logic operations, similar to CPU cores but smaller and simpler.
- Memory Hierarchy:
- Constant & Texture Memory: Read-only and optimized for certain use cases.
Unlike CPUs that follow SISD (Single Instruction, Single Data), GPUs follow SIMT, allowing thousands of
Key Concepts:
- Execution Model: Each thread executes the kernel independently with unique IDs.
An open standard for writing code that runs across heterogeneous platforms including GPUs.
Launch Configuration:
- High parallelism
Challenges
Conclusion
GPUs are revolutionizing computational performance in various domains. Understanding GPU architecture
and programming models like CUDA enables developers to exploit this power for solving large-scale