Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
News
Nvidia CUDA Brings GPU-Based Parallel Programming to the Classroom
11/27/2007
Nvidia has released a public beta of CUDA 1.1, an update to the company's C-compiler and SDK for developing multi-core and parallel processing applications on GPUs, specifically Nvidia's 8-series GPUs (and their successors in the future). While the 1.1 beta was originally released to developers Nov. 12, an update was posted last week that includes new public beta Linux display drivers. In addition, Nvidia has announced that more than 20 universities around the world have adopted CUDA for multi-core and parallel processing programming, with several more also exploring CUDA for inclusion in their parallel programming curricula.
New in the 1.1 beta release is a CUDA dll for standard display drivers, support for 64-bit Windows XP, graphics interoperability across Multiple GPUs, new async and stream management functionality, and additional source code examples, according to information posted in Nvidia's developer forums.
Earlier this month Nvidia also announced that several universities have adopted CUDA for GPU development. Some of these include:
- Johns Hopkins University
- Purdue University
- Stanford University
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Davis
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- University North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- University of Pennsylvania
"Perhaps the most important challenge facing the computing community is the move to parallel processing. As educators, teaching parallel hardware and software today are vital to giving our students the tools they need to build tomorrow's hardware and software," said John Owens, assistant professor in the department of computer engineering at University of California, Davis, in a statement released earlier this month to coincide with the SuperComputing 07 conference, which was held this month in Reno, NV. "Nvidia GPUs and the CUDA programming environment are a terrific way for us to put cheap, powerful data-parallel processing on the desktop for all our students."
CUDA (which stands for "Compute Unified Device Architecture") presently supports only Linux and Windows XP environments. A Mac OS X release is expected in January, and a version for Windows Vista is also forthcoming. The 1.1 beta supports Windows XP (32- and 64-bit) and Red Hat Linux 4 and 5 (32- and 64-bit). The production release will support CUDA's regular, full set of Linux distributions, according to the company.
Read More:
About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
Cite this Site
copy text (above) for proper citation
Recommended Reading
- Sentrigo Offers Help for Database Patching Woes
Sentrigo Inc. released its new Hedgehog vPatch database security software product Tuesday. The product addresses patching inconsistencies that seem to affect busy Oracle database administrators (DBAs), who don't always have time to test and patch. However, users of Microsoft SQL Server database in the enterprise can take a lesson here too.
- Starfish Launches Higher Ed Retention Solution
Software provider Starfish Retention Solutions has announced the upcoming launch of its first product, Starfish Office Hours. The company said this will be the first in a series of products intended to help higher education institutions improve retention and graduation rates by aiding in the delivery of programs designed to help at-risk student populations.
- Unisys Offers Free Unified Communications Trial
Unisys announced Monday that it is offering companies a free 30-day unified communications trial using Microsoft solutions. The offer is currently available through Microsoft's sales personnel.
- New Mexico Launches Statewide eLearning Initiative
As part of its Innovative Digital Education and Learning initiative (IDEAL-NM), New Mexico is launching a statewide program to standardize on a single electronic learning platform--Blackboard--spanning K-12, higher education, adult education, and government. The initiative will also support a new statewide virtual high school.
- North Carolina Adopts Blackboard for Higher Ed
The University of North Carolina and the North Carolina Community College System have signed on with Blackboard to deploy that company's electronic learning platform across 68 individual campuses.
- Semantic Search: Could the Web Think?
Semantics is a sub-field of linguistics that focuses on meaning making in language. Therefore, the Semantic Web we're still reaching for will be based on a set of definitions, languages, and standards that can base a search on the detection of meaning and not just on a simple character string. The Semantic Web will at least be smarter than the current Web.
