Evaluating In-Clique and Topological Parallelism Strategies for Junction Tree-Based Bayesian Inference Algorithm on the Cray XMT
Long viewed as a strong statistical inference technique, Bayesian networks have emerged to be an important class of applications for high-performance computing. We have applied an architecture-conscious approach to parallelizing the Lauritzen-Spiegelhalter Junction Tree algorithm for exact inferencing in Bayesian networks. In optimizing the Junction Tree algorithm, we have implemented both in-clique and topological parallelism strategies to best leverage the fine-grained synchronization and massive-scale multithreading of the Cray XMT architecture. Two topological techniques were developed to parallelize the evidence propagation process through the Bayesian network. One technique involves performing intelligent scheduling of junction tree nodes based on its topology and relative size. The second technique involves decomposing the junction tree into a much finer tree-like representation to offer much more opportunities for parallelism. We evaluate these optimizations on five different Bayesian networks and report our findings and observations. Another important contribution of this paper is to demonstrate the application of massive-scale multithreading for load balancing and use of implicit parallelism-based compiler optimizations in designing scalable inferencing algorithms.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1028552
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-77562; 400470000
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Fast and Accurate Simulation of the Cray XMT Multithreaded Supercomputer
Early Experience with Out-of-Core Applications on the Cray XMT