The practicality of SIMD for scientific computing

While not popular at present for scientific computing, SIMD has proven to be a practical option for tackling a variety of scientific problems. The MasPar MP-2 at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center is being successfully employed for Grand Challenges in Earth and space science. This paper considers the applicability, specific implementation and performance of five algorithms-astrophysical fluid dynamics, particle-in-cell techniques, N-body simulations, finite element simulations of fluids, and image processing. When compared to a single-processor CRAY C90, the MasPar MP-2 exhibits substantially better performance-to-cost and fully competitive sustained performance.<
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