The Portland Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of STMicroelectronics and supplier of compilers for high-performance computing (HPC), announced that CD-adapco, is building the latest version of their flagship product STAR-CD 4.0 using PGI Unified Binary technology.
The PGI Unified Binary is a single x64 binary executable containing code sequences optimised for both AMD and Intel x64 processors, ensuring correct function and optimum performance regardless of the type of x64 processor on which the application is deployed.
The PGI Unified Binary enables developers like CD-adapco to leverage the latest processor innovations from both AMD and Intel while treating x64 as a single platform, maximising flexibility and eliminating the need to target and optimise for two separate processor platforms. STAR-CD is a product for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which is used to simulate flow and thermal behavior of fluids and solids.
CFD programs enable scientists and engineers to analyse all types of fluid and thermal behaviour in products being designed, before or instead of prototype testing, to gain much earlier valuable insight into key product performance factors.
Typical applications range from air flow over a car or airplane wing, to internal combustion engines to keel performance of a racing yacht or the flow of blood through the heart. The STAR-CD system provides effective numerical methodologies in an industrial CFD code with the high level of accuracy needed for complex physical geometries and flow behavior. Recent trends suggest that the two main x64 processor architectures from AMD and Intel will continue to drift further apart technically in the future.
Platform integrators, ISVs and major users are expressing interest in tools and technologies that can help them bridge the compatibility gap. Recognising that this is already a critical decision factor for many companies, processor manufacturer AMD is taking an active role in cultivating and promoting customer-centric solutions like the PGI Unified Binary.