HPC boards promote parallelism

Feb. 11, 2010
Two PICMG 1.3 boards are available for the high-performance computing (HPC) platform Matrox Supersight e2.
Two PICMG 1.3 boards are available for the high-performance computing (HPC) platform Matrox Supersight e2. The new system host board (SHB-5520) and the x86 accelerator board (XAB-5520) support Intel’s latest-generation microarchitecture, Nehalem, with the Intel 5520 chipset. Memory directly attached to the CPU offers higher bandwidth as a result of a shorter path, so traditionally I/O-bound operations (such as arithmetic and spatial filters with small kernels) perform better. Intel QPI, the basis of a distributed shared memory architecture, has been designed to improve communication between multiple processors, encouraging parallelism. Matrox Imaging
Montreal, QC, Canada
www.matrox.com/imaging-- Posted by Carrie Meadows, Vision Systems DesignFind information on Vision Systems Boards

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PRESS RELEASE

New system boards for Matrox Supersight HPC platform now available


Intel Xeon 5500 series processor featuring Nehalem microarchitecture improves performance in high-throughput image processing applications

At Vision 2009, Matrox Imaging is announcing two PICMG 1.3 boards for its high-performance computing (HPC) platform, Matrox Supersight e2. The new system host board (SHB-5520) and the x86 accelerator board (XAB-5520) support Intel’s latest-generation microarchitecture, Nehalem, through the use of the Intel 5520 chipset.

“The Nehalem microarchitecture features an all-new memory architecture coupled with QuickPath Interconnect (QPI),” explains Pierantonio Boriero, Product Line Manager, Matrox Imaging. “This is good news for demanding image processing applications like semiconductor wafer and mask inspection, flat panel display (FPD) inspection, and CT scanning.”

The Nehalem microarchitecture will bring performance gains to high-throughput machine vision and imaging applications whose data volumes continue to increase. Memory directly attached to the CPU offers higher bandwidth as a result of a shorter path, so traditionally I/O-bound operations (such as arithmetic and spatial filters with small kernels) enjoy higher performance. Intel QPI, the basis of a distributed shared memory architecture, improves communication between multiple processors, encouraging parallelism, which translates into performance gains for compute-bound operations like morphology with large kernels as well as I/O-bound operations.

About Matrox Supersight e2

Matrox Supersight e2 is a high-performance computing platform designed for imaging applications with an extremely high throughput. Leveraging multiple clusters of CPUs, GPUs and FPGAs, Matrox Supersight e2 provides an environment for considerable data and task-level parallel processing through a unique PCI Express (PCIe) x16 2.0 (Gen2) switch fabric. Applications for Matrox Supersight e2 are developed with the Matrox Imaging Library (MIL) and its Distributed MIL API. As MIL is supported on all Matrox Imaging hardware platforms, development on Matrox Supersight e2 is simplified and ensures the source code is portable across all devices, from nodes with 32 CPU cores and 4 FPGAs, to a node with 8 CPU cores, 1 FPGA and 6 GPUs and everything in between.

Matrox Supersight e2 SHB-5520 / XAB-5520 will be available in Q4 2009.

About Matrox Imaging

Established in 1976, Matrox Imaging is a leading developer of component-level solutions for machine vision, image analysis, medical imaging, and video surveillance. Products include frame grabbers, vision processors, imaging computers, smart cameras, and application development software. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Matrox is a privately held company with offices in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, and Hong Kong. For more company information, visit: www.matrox.com/imaging/about/.

Matrox Imaging
1055 St. Regis Blvd., Dorval, Quebec, H9P 2T4
Tel: 514-685-2630

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