2nd PGAS Applications Workshop

The 2nd Annual PGAS Applications Workshop (PAW’17)
in conjunction with SC 17
Denver, USA
November 13, 2017

IMPORTANT DATES:
Submission Deadline: August 15, 2017
Author Notification: September 15, 2017
Camera Ready: October 1, 2017

The race towards Exascale computing is on, and a lot of stress is put on researchers to break the boundaries of productivity and efficiency imposed by traditional programming models. Partitioned Global Address Space (PGAS) languages are an effective alternative, and the most promising path towards sustainable programming environments for exascale machines. Languages such as UPC, Fortran, Chapel, and X10 are now more widely available than ever, thanks to increased support from vendors and open-source communities. PGAS models also take the form of meta-languages and libraries, such as Unified Parallel C++ (UPC++), Co-Array C++, OpenSHMEM, MPI-3 and Global Arrays. These have the benefit of being integrated with existing languages, simplifying the learning curve for existing programmers.

Significant improvements in the availability of PGAS compilers and support software have been achieved in the last few years; these open up more opportunities than ever for researchers and developers to test new strategies and port applications to more demanding requirements.

Following on the success of PAW’16, we invite you to take part in the second PGAS Application Workshop, and to join its vibrant and diverse community of researchers and developers.

SCOPE AND AIMS:

The scope of the PAW workshop is to provide a forum for exhibiting case studies of PGAS programming models in the context of real-world applications as a means of better understanding practical applications of PGAS technologies. We encourage the submission of papers and talks detailing practical PGAS applications, including characterizations of scalability and performance, of expressiveness and programmability, as well as any downsides or areas for improvement in existing PGAS models. In addition to informing other application programmers about the potential that is available through PGAS programming, the workshop is designed to communicate these experiences to compiler vendors, library developers, and system architects in order to achieve broader support for PGAS programming across the community.

We also specifically encourage submissions covering big data analytics, deep learning, and other novel and emerging application areas, beyond traditional scientific HPC domains.

Topics include, but are not limited to:
– Novel application development using the PGAS model.
– Real-world examples demonstrating performance, compiler optimization, error checking, and/or reduced software complexity.
– Applications from big data analytics, bioinformatics, and other novel areas.
– Performance evaluation of applications running under PGAS.
– Algorithmic models enabled by PGAS model.
– Compiler and runtime environments.
– Libraries using/supporting PGAS and applications.
– Benefits of hardware abstraction and data locality on algorithm implementation.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Submissions are solicited in two categories:

a) Full-length papers presenting novel research results. Full-length papers will be published in the workshop proceedings in cooperation with SIGHPC. Submitted papers must be original work that has not appeared in, and is not under consideration for, another conference or a journal. Papers shall not exceed eight (8) pages including text, appendices, and figures. References are not included.

b) Extended abstracts summarizing published/preliminary results. Extended abstracts will be evaluated separately and will not be included in the published proceedings; they are intended for timely communications of novel work that is going to be formally submitted elsewhere at a later stage, and/or of already published work that is nonetheless deemed appropriate for dissemination in this venue. Extended abstracts shall not exceed four (4) pages.

Submissions shall be submitted through EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=paw17); they must conform to ACM Guidelines (http://www.acm.org/publications/proceedings-template). Accepted full-length papers will be given longer presentation slots at the workshop; extended abstracts will be given shorter time slots.

WORKSHOP CHAIR
Karla Morris – Sandia National Laboratories

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
– Bradford L. Chamberlain – Cray Inc.
– Salvatore Filippone – Cranfield University
– Costin Iuaca – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
– Bill Long – Cray Inc.

PROGRAM COMMITTEE CHAIR and CO-CHAIR
– Francesco Rizzi – Sandia National Laboratories (Chair)
– Bill Long – Cray Inc. (Co-Chair)

PROGRAM COMMITTEE
– Bradford L. Chamberlain – Cray Inc.
– Bert de Jong – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
– James Dinan – Intel
– Salvatore Filippone – Cranfield University, UK
– Jeff Hammond – Intel
– Costin Iancu – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
– Karla Morris – Sandia National Laboratories
– Nicholas Park – U.S. Department of Defense
– Anton Shterenlikht – University of Bristol
– Min Si – Argonne National Laboratory
– Lauren L. Smith – U.S. Department of Defense
– Yili Zheng – Google

ADVISORY COMMITTEE
– Katherine A. Yelick – Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
– Damian W. I. Rouson – Sourcery Institute