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Research Highlight

Latest Kokkos Release Features New Experimental Backend with Support for AMD GPUs

Topic:
Kokkos deals with implementation details so users can focus on algorithms. Computer Science and Mathematics Computational Sciences and Engineering CSMD CSED ORNL
Kokkos deals with implementation details so users can focus on algorithms.

The Science

Kokkos is a programming model and library for writing performance-portable code in C++. The latest release, which features a new experimental backend with support for AMD GPUs, was used by ECP software technologies ArborX and Cabana to run successfully on AMD accelerators.

The Impact

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on codes (such as Trilinos, Sierra, etc.) that rely on Kokkos for performance portability, and virtually all the flops on ORNL’s future exascale supercomputer, Frontier, will come from AMD GPUs. The new backend leverages AMD’s Heterogeneous-compute Interface for Portability, or HIP, so that applications that are using the Kokkos programming model are ported to Frontier with the highest levels of performance. 

PI(s)/Facility Lead(s): Christian Trott (SNL) and Damien Lebrun-Grandie (ORNL) Team: Bruno Turcksin (ORNL), Daniel Arndt (ORNL) 
Software Release: Kokkos release 3.1 is available for download at https://github.com/kokkos/kokkos/releases/tag/3.1.01
Funding: ECP (Software Technology RAJA/Kokkos - 2.3.1.18)