Porting Estimation of Distribution Algorithms to the Cell Broadband Engine

Current consumer-grade computers and game devices incorporate very powerful processors that can be used to accelerate many classes of scientific codes. In this paper we explore the ability of the Cell Broadband Engine to run two similar Estimation of Distribution Algorithms, one for the discrete domain and the other for the continuous domain. Starting from initial, sequential versions, we develop multi-threaded programs for symmetric multiprocessors that are afterwards reworked to run on a Cell-based system. In most cases, the parallel programs significantly accelerate execution times, compared with the sequential counterparts. Additional acceleration is achieved using vector (instead of scalar) operations, which are supported by all the tested platforms. We describe the process of parallelizing and porting the programs, and analyze the results obtained taking into account the EDAs under study, the problems solved with them, and the platform in which programs run. We conclude that EDAs are not right targets to be ported to the Cell Broadband Engine.