Evaluation Criteria for Sparse Matrix Storage Formats

Abstract

When authors present new storage formats for sparse matrices, they usually focus mainly on a single evaluation criterion, which is the performance of sparse matrix-vector multiplication (SpMV) in FLOPS. Though such an evaluation is essential, it does not allow to directly compare the presented format with its competitors. Moreover, in case that matrices are within an HPC application constructed in different formats, this criterion alone is not sufficient for the key decision whether or not to convert them into the presented format for the SpMV-based application phase. We establish ten evaluation criteria for sparse matrix storage formats, discuss their advantages and disadvantages, and provide general suggestions for format authors/evaluators to make their work more valuable for the HPC community.