July 25, 2016
As parallel programming grows in importance and popularity, the critical challenge has become how to intelligently manage, develop, and debug the increasingly complex code. Traditional tools such as trace analysis, serial debuggers, and the venerable "printf"statement just aren't up to the task. Although some commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) vendors and customers in the embedded-defense space have attempted to develop their own parallel programming tools, the task has proved difficult and the resulting tools are far from full-featured. What's more, using proprietary development tools can add risk to a program's cost and schedule. The good news: A better source of tools for designing cutting-edge high-performance embedded computing (HPEC) systems already exists in an adjacent market - the commercial high-performance computing (HPC) market. Sourcing proven and powerful tools from the HPC community, long supported by an expansive user base, can greatly speed delivery time while decreasing costs and program risk.