Dynamic data layouts for cache-conscious factorization of DFT

Abstract

Effective utilization of cache memories is a key factor in achieving high performance in computing the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). Most optimization techniques for computing the DFT rely on either modifying the computation and data access order or exploiting low level platform specific details, while keeping the data layout in memory static. In this paper we propose a high level optimization technique, dynamic data layout (DDL). In DDL, data reorganization is performed between computations to effectively utilize the cache. This cache-conscious factorization of the DFT including the data reorganization steps is automatically computed by using efficient techniques in our approach. An analytical model of the cache miss pattern is utilized to predict the performance and explore the search space of factorizations. Our technique results in up to a factor of 4 improvement over standard FFT implementations and up to 33% improvement over other optimization techniques such as copying on SUN UltraSPARC-II, DEC Alpha and Intel Pentium III.