Python Parallel Programming Cookbook

Memory organization

Another aspect that we need to consider to evaluate a parallel architecture is memory organization or rather, the way in which the data is accessed. No matter how fast the processing unit is, if the memory cannot maintain and provide instructions and data at a sufficient speed, there will be no improvement in performance. The main problem that must be overcome to make the response time of the memory compatible with the speed of the processor is the memory cycle time, which is defined as the time that has elapsed between two successive operations. The cycle time of the processor is typically much shorter than the cycle time of the memory. When the processor starts transferring data (to or from the memory), the memory will remain ...