Synchronization Transformations for Parallel Computing

As parallel machines become part of the mainstream computing environment, compilers will need to apply synchronization optimizations to deliver efficient parallel software. This paper describes a new framework for synchronization optimizations and a new set of transformations for programs that implement critical sections using mutual exclusion locks. These transformations allow the compiler to move constructs that acquire and release locks both within and between procedures and to eliminate acquire and release constructs. The paper also presents a new synchronization algorithm, lock elimination, for reducing synchronization overhead. This optimization locates computations that repeatedly acquire and release the same lock, then uses the transformations to obtain equivalent computations that acquire and release the lock only once. Experimental results from a parallelizing compiler for object-based programs illustrate the practical utility of this optimization. For three benchmark program..