Time-domain 3D Wave Propagation Modeling and Memory Management Using Graphics Processing Units

We used graphics processing units for an efficient time-domain 3D wave propagation modeling. Since graphics processing units are designed for massively parallel processes, we need to optimize the calculation and memory management to fully exploit graphics processing units. We focused on the memory management and examined the performance of programs with respect to the memory management methods. We also tested the effects of memory transfer on the performance of the program by varying the order of finite difference equation and the size of velocity models. The results show that the memory transfer takes a larger portion of the running time than that of the finite difference calculation in programs transferring whole 3D wavefield.