Gravitational search algorithm using CUDA: a case study in high-performance metaheuristics

Abstract

Many scientific and technical problems with massive computation requirements could benefit from the graphics processing units (GPUs) using compute unified device architecture (CUDA). Gravitational search algorithm (GSA) is a population-based metaheuristic which can be effectively implemented on GPU to reduce the execution time. Nonetheless, the performance improvement depends strongly on the process used to adapt the algorithm into CUDA environment. In this paper, we discuss possible approaches to parallelize GSA on graphics hardware using CUDA. An in-depth study of the computation efficiency of parallel algorithms and capability to effectively exploit the architecture of GPU is performed. Additionally, a comparative study of parallel and sequential GSA was carried out on a set of standard benchmark optimization functions. The results show a significant speedup while maintaining results quality which re-emphasizes the utility of CUDA-based implementation for complex and computationally intensive parallel applications.