Open AccessParallel, distributed and GPU computing technologies in single‐particle electron microscopy
Author(s) -
Schmeisser Martin,
Heisen Burkhard C.,
Luettich Mario,
Busche Boris,
Hauer Florian,
Koske Tobias,
Knauber KarlHeinz,
Stark Holger
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta crystallographica section d
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1399-0047
DOI - 10.1107/s0907444909011433
Subject(s) - computer science , rendering (computer graphics) , graphics , general purpose computing on graphics processing units , multi core processor , computer graphics , computational science , distributed computing , computer graphics (images) , parallel computing
Most known methods for the determination of the structure of macromolecular complexes are limited or at least restricted at some point by their computational demands. Recent developments in information technology such as multicore, parallel and GPU processing can be used to overcome these limitations. In particular, graphics processing units (GPUs), which were originally developed for rendering real‐time effects in computer games, are now ubiquitous and provide unprecedented computational power for scientific applications. Each parallel‐processing paradigm alone can improve overall performance; the increased computational performance obtained by combining all paradigms, unleashing the full power of today's technology, makes certain applications feasible that were previously virtually impossible. In this article, state‐of‐the‐art paradigms are introduced, the tools and infrastructure needed to apply these paradigms are presented and a state‐of‐the‐art infrastructure and solution strategy for moving scientific applications to the next generation of computer hardware is outlined.