Close to Metal
Encyclopedia
Close To Metal is the name of a beta version of a low-level programming interface developed by ATI
(now AMD
Graphics Products Group), aimed at enabling GPGPU
computing. CTM was short-lived, and the first production version of AMD's GPGPU technology is now called Stream SDK.
elements in modern AMD video cards. CTM replaced the graphics-centric DirectX and OpenGL APIs for the GPGPU programmer while exposing previously unavailable low-level functionality. R580 (ATI x1900) and later generations of AMD's GPU microarchitecture supported the CTM interface.
CTM's commercial successor, AMD Stream SDK, was released under AMD EULA in December 2007 after the software stack was rewritten. Stream SDK provides high-level in addition to low-level tools for general-purpose access to AMD graphics hardware.
Using GPUs to perform computations holds a lot of potential for some applications because of the fundamental differences of GPU microarchitectures compared to CPUs. GPUs achieve much greater throughput (calculations per second) by executing many programs in parallel and restricting flow control (the ability of one program to execute instructions independently of another). Modern GPUs also have addressable on-die memory and extremely high performance multi-channel external memory.
AMD recently switched from CTM to OpenCL
.
ATI Technologies
ATI Technologies Inc. was a semiconductor technology corporation based in Markham, Ontario, Canada, that specialized in the development of graphics processing units and chipsets. Founded in 1985 as Array Technologies Inc., the company was listed publicly in 1993 and was acquired by Advanced Micro...
(now AMD
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. or AMD is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Sunnyvale, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets...
Graphics Products Group), aimed at enabling GPGPU
GPGPU
General-purpose computing on graphics processing units is the technique of using a GPU, which typically handles computation only for computer graphics, to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by the CPU...
computing. CTM was short-lived, and the first production version of AMD's GPGPU technology is now called Stream SDK.
Overview
CTM gave developers direct access to the native instruction set and memory of the massively parallel computationalParallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...
elements in modern AMD video cards. CTM replaced the graphics-centric DirectX and OpenGL APIs for the GPGPU programmer while exposing previously unavailable low-level functionality. R580 (ATI x1900) and later generations of AMD's GPU microarchitecture supported the CTM interface.
CTM's commercial successor, AMD Stream SDK, was released under AMD EULA in December 2007 after the software stack was rewritten. Stream SDK provides high-level in addition to low-level tools for general-purpose access to AMD graphics hardware.
Using GPUs to perform computations holds a lot of potential for some applications because of the fundamental differences of GPU microarchitectures compared to CPUs. GPUs achieve much greater throughput (calculations per second) by executing many programs in parallel and restricting flow control (the ability of one program to execute instructions independently of another). Modern GPUs also have addressable on-die memory and extremely high performance multi-channel external memory.
AMD recently switched from CTM to OpenCL
OpenCL
OpenCL is a framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms consisting of CPUs, GPUs, and other processors. OpenCL includes a language for writing kernels , plus APIs that are used to define and then control the platforms...
.
Open-source
Some components of CTM and the Stream SDK are open source, such as the Brook+ C-like language and compiler.See also
- GPGPUGPGPUGeneral-purpose computing on graphics processing units is the technique of using a GPU, which typically handles computation only for computer graphics, to perform computation in applications traditionally handled by the CPU...
- CUDACUDACUDA or Compute Unified Device Architecture is a parallel computing architecture developed by Nvidia. CUDA is the computing engine in Nvidia graphics processing units that is accessible to software developers through variants of industry standard programming languages...
- OpenCLOpenCLOpenCL is a framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms consisting of CPUs, GPUs, and other processors. OpenCL includes a language for writing kernels , plus APIs that are used to define and then control the platforms...
- BrookGPUBrookGPUBrookGPU is the Stanford University graphics group's compiler and runtime implementation of the Brook stream programming language for using modern graphics hardware for non-graphical, general purpose computations...
- Lib ShLib ShSh is a metaprogramming language for programmable GPUs. Programmable GPUs are graphics processing units that execute some operations with higher efficiency than CPUs...
- Stream programming
- ShaderShaderIn the field of computer graphics, a shader is a computer program that is used primarily to calculate rendering effects on graphics hardware with a high degree of flexibility...