During the Open Source Summit Europe in Bilbao, Spain, the Linux Foundation unveiled the launch of the Unified Acceleration (UXL) Foundation. The purpose of this foundation is to establish an open standard for accelerator programming, simplifying the development of high-performing, cross-platform applications.
Key Takeaway
The Unified Acceleration Foundation, launched by the Linux Foundation, is set to establish an open standard for accelerator programming. By providing developers with a simplified programming model, this initiative will streamline the creation of performant, cross-platform applications. The foundation aims to implement the existing oneAPI specification to support a wide range of accelerators, while leveraging the Linux Foundation’s open governance model for efficient decision-making.
Founding members of the Unified Acceleration Foundation include leading technology companies such as Arm, Fujitsu, Google Cloud, Imagination Technologies, Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung. Notably absent from this list is Nvidia, known for its CUDA programming model designed for GPU programming.
A New Path for Accelerator Programming
The UXL Foundation builds upon the oneAPI initiative, which aims to create a universal programming model to support a wide range of accelerators, including GPUs, FPGAs, and specialized accelerators. By implementing the oneAPI specification, the UXL Foundation strives to empower developers to utilize accelerator technologies without needing to master the intricacies of the underlying hardware and infrastructure.
Intel and other key industry players originally supported the oneAPI initiative. The Unified Acceleration Foundation now aims to expedite the implementation of this specification across the industry. The Linux Foundation, with its renowned open governance model, provides the ideal platform for merging business and technical decision-making processes.
Robert Cohn, Intel Corporation and oneAPI specification editor, highlighted the significance of open source and standards in creating a cross-platform software stack for GPUs and other accelerators—crucial for the next generation of computationally and data-intensive applications. Cohn emphasized that the transformative power of Linux and GNU in the CPU software stack will be replicated by the Unified Acceleration Foundation in the realm of accelerator programming.
