AMD APP SDK v2.8.1 released

[Stefan]

What’s New in AMD APP SDK v2.8.1
1.1 New features in AMD APP SDK v2.8.1
AMD APP SDK v2.8.1 includes the following new features:
? Bolt: With the launch of Bolt 1.0, several new samples have been added to demonstrate the
use of the features of Bolt 1.0. These features showcase the use of valuable Bolt APIs such
as scan, sort, reduce and transform. Other new samples highlight the ease of porting from
STL and the performance benefits achieved over equivalent STL implementations. Other
samples demonstrate the different fallback options in Bolt 1.0 when no GPU is available.
These options include a fallback to multicore-CPU if TBB libraries are installed, or falling all
the way back to serial-CPU if needed to ensure your code runs correctly on any platform.
? OpenCV: AMD has been working closely with the OpenCV open source community to add
heterogeneous acceleration capability to the world’s most popular computer vision library.
These changes are already integrated into OpenCV and are readily available for developers
who want to improve the performance and efficiency of their computer vision applications. The
new samples illustrate these improvements and highlight how simple it is to include them in
your application. For information on the latest OpenCV enhancements, see Harris’ blog.
? GCN: AMD recently launched a new Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture on several AMD
products. GCN is based on a scalar architecture versus the VLIW vector architecture of prior
generations, so carefully hand-tuned vectorization to optimize hardware utilization is no longer
needed. Several samples in AMD APP SDK 2.8.1 have been modified to show the ease of
writing scalar code as compared to vectorization.
? AMD APP SDK 2.8.1 also includes new OpenCL samples:
?? StringSearch: An optimized string searching sample that demonstrates how to
reduce divergence through workload re-balancing with a queue.
?? UnsharpMask: A image processing sample that implements an Unsharp mask filter.
?? Optimized samples: NBody: performance optimized through loop unrolling

1.2 Key features supported in the Catalyst 13.6 Beta2 driver
? New platforms supported
?? Richland
?? Kabini
?? Bonaire
? New OS support
?? Ubuntu 12.10
?? RHEL 6.4
? IP blocks supported
?? VCE 2.0
?? UVD 4.2
?? ACP 1.1
?? SAMU 2.1 (Kabini)

1.3 Key features supported in Bolt 1.0
? Bolt functions can be executed with four code paths (OpenCL™, C++ AMP, Multicore TBB,
and Serial CPU). The default mode is "Automatic": the GPU paths are first, then Multicore
TBB, then Serial CPU. The control goes to the other paths only if the selected path is not
found. Forcing the mode to any code path will run the function with that code path. All Bolt
functions have OpenCL™ and Serial path implementations. However, for some functions,
Multicore TBB path is not implemented yet. So calling those functions with the MultiCoreCpu
flag will actually call the Serial code path.

1.4 New features for AMD CodeXL Version 1.2
The following new features for AMD CodeXL Version 1.2 expand platform support and provide
improvements to the developer experience:
? The CPU Profiler includes a number of improved capabilities including:
?? A new user interface design to help ease navigation and use of key features
?? Support for profiling of Java/CLR applications
?? Support for Time-Based Profiling on Intel Win8 platforms
?? Support for for AMD's recently announced Kabini APU public registers
? The Kernel Analyzer now includes a new analysis module for Southern Islands devices and
supports the emulation of kernel workloads
? The AMD CodeXL tutorial has been updated