General Purpose Programming on Modern Graphics Hardware
GENERAL PURPOSE PROGRAMMING ON MODERN GRAPHICS HARDWARE Robert Fleming, B.Sc. Thesis Prepared for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2008 APPROVED: Robert Renka, Major Professor Armin Mikler, Committee Member Tom Jacob, Committee Member Krishna Kavi, Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering Oscar Garcia, Dean of the College of Engineering Sandra L. Terrell, Dean of the Robert B. Toulouse School of Graduate Studies Fleming, Robert. General Purpose Programming on Modern Graphics Hardware. Master of Science (Computer Science), May 2008, 90 pp., 1 table, 3 figures, references, 124 titles. I start with a brief introduction to the graphics processing unit (GPU) as well as general-purpose computation on modern graphics hardware (GPGPU). Next, I explore the motivations for GPGPU programming, and the capabilities of modern GPUs (including advantages and disadvantages). Also, I give the background required for further exploring GPU programming, including the terminology used and the resources available. Finally, I include a comprehensive survey of previous and current GPGPU work, and end with a look at the future of GPU programming. Copyright 2008 by Robert Fleming ii To Wanda and Cheesepuff, my partners in crime. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES AND ILLUSTRATIONS ......................................................................vi Chapters 1. MOTIVATION ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 What Kinds of Computation Suit the
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