Parallelizing sequential programs by algorithm-level transformations

Abstract

We address a significant problem in parallel processing research, namely, how to port existing sequential programs to run efficiently on parallel machines (the "dusty deck" problem). Conventional domain-independent techniques are inadequate for solving this problem because they miss significant opportunities of parallelism. We present experimental evidence to support our claim, analyze why current techniques are inadequate, and propose a knowledge-based reverse engineering approach for attacking this problem.<>