PTask: Operating System Abstractions To Manage GPUs as Compute Devices

We propose a new set of OS abstractions to support GPUs and other accelerator devices as first class computing resources. These new abstractions, collectively called the PTask API, support a dataflow programming model. Because a PTask graph consists of OS-managed objects, the kernel has sufficient visibility and control to provide system-wide guarantees like fairness and performance isolation, and can streamline data movement in ways that are impossible under current GPU programming models.

Our experience developing the PTask API, along with a gestural interface on Windows 7 and a FUSE-based encrypted file system on Linux show that the PTask API can provide important systemwide guarantees where there were previously none, and can enable significant performance improvements, for example gaining a 5×improvement in maximum throughput for the gestural interface.