Design Space Exploration for Partitioning Dataflow Program on CPU-GPU Heterogeneous System

Abstract

Dataflow programming is a methodology that enables the development of high-level, parametric programs that are independent of the underlying platform. This approach is particularly useful for heterogeneous platforms, as it eliminates the need to rewrite application software for each configuration. Instead, it only requires new low-level implementation code, which is typically automatically generated through code generation tools. The performance of programs running on heterogeneous parallel platforms is highly dependent on the partitioning and mapping of computation to different processing units. This is determined by parameters that govern the partitioning, mapping, scheduling, and allocation of data exchanges among the processing elements of the platform. Determining the appropriate parameters for a specific application and set of architectures is a complex task and is an active area of research. This paper presents a novel methodology for partitioning and mapping dataflow programs onto heterogeneous systems composed of both CPUs and GPUs. The objective is to identify the program configuration that provides the most efficient way to process a typical dataflow program by exploring its design space. This is an NP-complete problem that we have addressed by utilizing a design space exploration approach that leverages a Tabu search meta-heuristic optimization algorithm driven by analysis of the execution trace graph of the program. The heuristic algorithm effectively identifies a solution that maps actors to processing units while improving overall performance. The parameters of the heuristic algorithm, such as the time limit and the proportion of neighboring solutions explored during each iteration, can be fine-tuned for optimal results. Additionally, the proposed approach allows for the exploration of solutions that do not utilize all hardware resources if it results in better performance. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through experimental results on dataflow programs.