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Paradigms admitting superunitary behaviour in parallel computation

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Parallel Processing: CONPAR 94 — VAPP VI (VAPP 1994, CONPAR 1994)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 854))

Abstract

The phenomenon of a disproportionate decrease in execution time of p 2 over p 1 processors executing a task in parallel, where p 2 > p 1, is referred to as superunitary speedup. An analogous phenomenon that we call superunitary ‘success ratio’ occurs in dealing with tasks that can either succeed or fail, when there is a disproportionate increase in the success of p 2 over p 1 processors. We identify a range of conditions which may lead to superunitary speedup or superunitary success ratio, and propose several new paradigms for problems which admit such superunitary behaviour. Our results suggest that a new theory of parallel computation may be required to accommodate these new paradigms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen's University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Selim G. Akl & Lorrie Fava Lindon

Authors
  1. Selim G. Akl
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  2. Lorrie Fava Lindon
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Editor information

Bruno Buchberger Jens Volkert

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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Akl, S.G., Lindon, L.F. (1994). Paradigms admitting superunitary behaviour in parallel computation. In: Buchberger, B., Volkert, J. (eds) Parallel Processing: CONPAR 94 — VAPP VI. VAPP CONPAR 1994 1994. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 854. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58430-7_27

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58430-7_27

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-58430-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48789-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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