Synchronization

Nowait clause, Barrier Construct

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu
Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)
Vellore-632014, Tamil Nadu, India
 Outline
Session objectives

Nowait clause: Syntax, Example

The Barrier construct, Syntax,

Example

Summary

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 2

 Objectives
To provide knowledge on
synchronization constructs

To appraise with nowait

clause significance

To appraise with barrier

construct importance and
use
Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 3
 The Nowait Clause: Syntax
The Nowait Clause
• The nowait clause allows threads to
ignore the implicit barrier.
• When you use the nowait clause, the
threads do not wait for the other threads
at the end of the constructs.
• The syntax for the nowait clause is:

#pragma construct nowait

{[...]};

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 4

 The Nowait Clause: Syntax
The Nowait Clause
• If you want to ignore the implicit
barrier at the end of a for loop
• use the following syntax

#pragma omp for nowait

for (...)
{...};
• can use the nowait clause when the
threads are likely to wait between
independent computations.

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 5

 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example The Nowait Clause
#pragma omp for schedule(dynamic,1)
nowait
for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
a[i] = bigFunc1(i);

#pragma omp for schedule(dynamic,1)

for (int j=0; j<m; j++)
b[j] = bigFunc2(j);

• In the above example, threads enter

the first loop and execute it.
• In the absence of the nowait clause,
threads pause for all iterations of
the first loop to complete .
Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore S
lide.# 6
 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example The Nowait Clause
schedule(dynamic,1) nowait
#pragma omp for
for (int i=0; i<n; i++)
a[i] = bigFunc1(i);

#pragma omp for schedule(dynamic,1)

for (int j=0; j<m; j++)
b[j] = bigFunc2(j);

• With the nowait clause, when the work

exhausts in the first loop, threads begin
executing work in the second loop.
• As a result, the nowait clause ignores
the implicit barrier at the end of the first
loop.
Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 7
 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example The Barrier Construct
 The Barrier Construct
• In contrast to the implicit barriers,
the barrier construct enforces
explicit barrier synchronization.
• This construct synchronizes all the
threads in the team.
• When a thread encounters a barrier
construct, it waits for all the other
threads to reach that barrier.

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 8

 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example
 The Barrier Construct: Syntax
The Barrier Construct
• All threads then start executing
the code that follows the
barrier construct.
• The syntax for the barrier
construct is provided here:

#pragma omp barrier

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 9

 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example
 The Barrier Construct: Syntax, Example
The Barrier Construct
#pragma omp parallel shared(A,B,C)
{
DoSomeWork(A,B);
printf (“Processed A into B\n”);
#pragma omp barrier
DoSomeWork(B,C);
printf (“Processed B into C\n”);
}

• In this example, A, B, and C are shared

variables.
• Threads enter the parallel region and execute
the DoSomeWork() function in parallel with A
and B.

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 10

 The Nowait Clause: Syntax, Example
 The Barrier Construct: Syntax, Example
The Barrier Construct
#pragma omp parallel shared(A,B,C)
{
DoSomeWork(A,B);
printf (“Processed A into B\n”);
#pragma omp barrier
DoSomeWork(B,C);
printf (“Processed B into C\n”);
}
• You need to update the value of B before
performing any computation involving B
by calling the second DoSomeWork()
function.
• Setting the barrier synchronization creates a
threshold.
• Threads need to wait for the other threads
before entering the next code block.
Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore S
lide.# 11
 Summary
• The Nowait Clause
– Syntax
#pragma construct nowait
– Example
• The Barrier Construct
– Syntax
#pragma omp barrier
– Example

Dr M Rajasekhara Babu, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT)-Vellore Slide.# 12