OpenMP with other parallel programming models is not dictated by the OpenMP specification, but instead will be defined by the specific implementations. We expect that most implementations will permit mixing of certain models with OpenMP, and this will be driven by a combination of technical feasibility and customer needs.
SGI currently supports the following combinations:
The company plans to support mixing of OpenMP and pthreads in the future. Of course, when using a threaded model like OpenMP with other libraries or threads packages, the user is ultimately responsible for ensuring thread safety.
With so many models available, the number of potential combinations is daunting. In practice, few applications really need to intermix different models. Since OpenMP supports the full range of fine- through coarse-grain parallelism, in many cases developers will find it meets all their needs.
What kind of application code would you recommend use OpenMP?
Any parallel application being developed to run on modern multiprocessor systems, where good performance is important.
Many applications today that run on SMP systems use vendor-specific directives, and without a standard, have multiple sequences of similar directives scattered throughout the application (one for SGI, one for Cray, one for HP, etc.) OpenMP finally offers the opportunity to replace these sets of vendor-specific directives by a single, portable directive.
How will OpenMP be managed as a standard, over the long-term? Who owns it?
Planning is underway to establish an OpenMP Architecture Review Board (ARB) to manage the OpenMP specifications and deal with issues about validation and conformance of OpenMP implementations. SGI will be a key member of this organization.
The OpenMP web site explains how organizations may join the OpenMP ARB.
What does it cost me/who do I get it from/when do I get OpenMP?
For SGI IRIX and UNICOS systems, OpenMP is supported through standard compiler and programming environment releases; there is no special licensing required to use OpenMP.
Who is using OpenMP? What applications are using it?
Many application developers have begun using OpenMP in their applications, or intend to use it in future releases. The "partners" section in the OpenMP web site lists many of these developers.
Where do I find out more?
For general information on OpenMP, see the OpenMP web site: www.openmp.org.
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