Re: Project proposal for GSoC.

[Jordi Gutiérrez Hermoso]

On 25 February 2012 23:26, SAYANTAN DATTA <address@hidden> wrote:
> I am looking for opportunities to contribute in the field of parallel
> processing and GPU computing.As many of the algorithms in mathematics are
> inherently parallel ,it could save a huge time if we could use the power of
> GPUs and multicore CPU, especially when the data sets are very large.For
> example LU decomposition,FFT,matrix inverse ,numerical integration, ODE and
> PDE solving etc could be computed much faster if they are performed using
> GPUs and multicore CPUs.
>
>  Also I would like to mention that I'm quiet familiar with OpenCL,OpenMP
> ,MPI and majority of the numerical methods used commonly in engineering.
>
>  So is there any scope for implementing the above mentioned idea for octave
> in this year's GSoC?

Perhaps, but there is a huge problem we keep facing: is there a free
and GPL compatible implementation of OpenCL? It seems like a big shame
that the only way to do GPU computing is by giving up control of your
hardware to some binary blob made by nvidia or ATI. I know last year's
GSoC had a project to implement OpenCL:

    http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTgwOQ

There seems to be more recent progress on nouveau too:

    http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTA1Mzk

I personally see getting a working free OpenCL implementation like a
prerequisite before we can think of how to integrate this into Octave.
My advice is to see if there is something you can do on that side
first.

- Jordi G. H.