{"46291":{"#nid":"46291","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Programming Tools Allow Use of Video Game Processors for Defense Needs","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EVideo gaming computers and video game consoles available today typically contain a graphics processing unit (GPU), which is very efficient at manipulating and displaying computer graphics. However, the unit\u0027s highly parallel structure also makes it more efficient than a general-purpose central processing unit for a range of complex calculations important to defense applications.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering are developing programming tools to enable engineers in the defense industry to utilize the processing power of GPUs without having to learn the complicated programming language required to use them directly.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As radar systems and other sensor systems get more complicated, the computational requirements are becoming a bottleneck,\u0022 said GTRI senior research engineer Daniel Campbell. \u0022We are capitalizing on the ability of GPUs to process radar, infrared sensor and video data faster than a typical computer and at a much lower cost and power than a computing cluster.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMark Richards, a principal research engineer and adjunct professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is collaborating with Campbell and graduate student Andrew Kerr to rewrite common signal processing commands to run on a GPU. This work is supported by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are writing functions defined in the Vector, Signal and Image Processing Library (VSIPL) to run on GPUs. VSIPL is an open standard developed by embedded signal and image processing hardware and software vendors, academia, application developers and government labs. GPU VSIPL is available for download at (\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/gpu-vsipl.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022 title=\u0022http:\/\/gpu-vsipl.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003Ehttp:\/\/gpu-vsipl.gtri.gatech.edu\/\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers are currently writing the functions in Nvidia\u0027s CUDA\u003Csup\u003ETM\u003C\/sup\u003E language, but the underlying principles can be applied to GPUs developed by other companies, according to Campbell. With GPU VSIPL, engineers can use high-level functions in their C programs to perform linear algebra and signal processing operations, and recompile with GPU VSIPL to take advantage of the speed of the GPU. Studies have shown that VSIPL functions operate between 20 and 350 times faster on a GPU than a central processing unit, depending on the function and size of the data set.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The results are not surprising because GPUs excel at performing repetitive arithmetic tasks like those in VSIPL, such as signal processing functions like Fourier transforms, spectral analysis, image formation and noise filtering,\u0022 noted Richards. \u0022We\u0027ve just alleviated the need for engineers to understand the entire GPU architecture by simply providing them with a library of routines that they frequently use.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team is also assessing the advantages of GPUs by running a library of benchmarks for quantitatively comparing high-performance, embedded computing systems. The benchmarks address important operations across a broad range of U.S. Department of Defense signal and image processing applications.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EPreliminary studies have shown several of the benchmarks have straightforward parallelization schemes that result in faster operation without requiring significant optimization. For other benchmarks, additional research needs to be conducted into optimizing the use of multiple GPUs.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EFor the future, the researchers plan to continue expanding the GPU VSIPL, develop additional defense-related GPU function libraries and design programming tools to utilize other efficient processors, such as the cell broadband engine processor at the heart of the PlayStation 3 video game console.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch News \u0026amp; Publications Office\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100\u003Cbr \/\u003E\nAtlanta, Georgia 30308 USA\n\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMedia Relations Contacts: Abby Vogel (404-385-3364); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:avogel@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Eavogel@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or Kirk Englehardt (404-407-7280); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:kirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ekirk.englehardt@gtri.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E) or John Toon (404-894-6986); E-mail: (\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:jtoon@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ejtoon@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E)\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWriter:\u003C\/strong\u003E Abby Vogel\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researchers are developing programming tools to enable engineers in the defense industry to utilize the processing power of GPUs without having to learn the complicated programming language required to use them directly.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"GPUs used for complex calculations important to defense applicat"}],"uid":"27206","created_gmt":"2009-06-24 00:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:03:14","author":"Abby Vogel Robinson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2009-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2009-06-24T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46292":{"id":"46292","type":"image","title":"GPU processing for defense needs","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"GPU processing for defense needs","file":{"fid":"101074","name":"tcw47052.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcw47052_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tcw47052_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1386703,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tcw47052_0.jpg?itok=iJ9nlI9N"}},"46293":{"id":"46293","type":"image","title":"Mark Richards Dan Campbell","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"Mark Richards Dan Campbell","file":{"fid":"101075","name":"tvj47052.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tvj47052_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tvj47052_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":837484,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tvj47052_0.jpg?itok=ch6nt1cA"}},"46294":{"id":"46294","type":"image","title":"GPU","body":null,"created":"1449174375","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:26:15","changed":"1475894414","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:14","alt":"GPU","file":{"fid":"101076","name":"tmp47052.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmp47052_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tmp47052_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1191835,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tmp47052_0.jpg?itok=tDPZoxk0"}}},"media_ids":["46292","46293","46294"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gtri.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Research Institute"},{"url":"http:\/\/ece.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"groups":[{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"}],"categories":[{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"143","name":"Digital Media and Entertainment"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"202","name":"campbell"},{"id":"208","name":"computing"},{"id":"199","name":"console"},{"id":"206","name":"cuda"},{"id":"207","name":"embedded"},{"id":"198","name":"game"},{"id":"205","name":"GPU"},{"id":"193","name":"graphics processing unit"},{"id":"204","name":"image processing"},{"id":"194","name":"parallel"},{"id":"196","name":"playstation"},{"id":"195","name":"processing"},{"id":"201","name":"richards"},{"id":"169432","name":"signal processing"},{"id":"197","name":"video"},{"id":"200","name":"vsipl"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cstrong\u003EAbby Vogel\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EResearch News and Publications\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gatech.edu\/contact\/index.html?id=avogel6\u0022\u003EContact Abby Vogel\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E404-385-3364\u003C\/strong\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["avogel@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}