by David Mackay
Libraries play an important role in threading software to run faster on Intel multi-core platforms.
Multi-core platforms are the default computer platforms sold throughout the world. On a multi-core platform there are multiple processors contained on a single chip. That is, each chip has multiple cores that are each a full processor. A decade ago only servers and high end workstations contained multiple processors in configurations called symmetric multi-processor (SMP) systems. A multi-core platform offers the same performance benefits a SMP system did years ago. (SMP systems with multiple multi-core chips are still available for high-end workstations and servers). Even laptops contain multi-core processors now. Each core or processor on a multi-core chip can independently complete computational tasks, improving platform performance and enhancing the end user experience.
Frequently it may require significant work for a development team to thread an application. Libraries which are already threaded provide a low development cost method to prepare software to benefit from the performance potential of multi-core platforms. This paper discusses the roles and benefits of libraries in preparing software for multi-core.
