LBcuda: A high-performance CUDA port of LBsoft for simulation of colloidal systems

We present LBcuda, a GPU accelerated version of LBsoft, our open-source MPI-based software for the simulation of multi-component colloidal flows. We describe the design principles, the optimization and the resulting performance as compared to the CPU version, using both an average cost GPU and high end NVidia GPU cards (V100 and the latest A100). The results show a substantial acceleration for the fluid solver reaching up to 200 GLUPS (Giga Lattice Updates Per Second) on a cluster made of 512 A100 NVIDIA cards simulating a grid of eight billion lattice points. These results open attractive prospects for the computational design of new materials based on colloidal particles.

Automated summary

This paper presents LBcuda, a GPU-accelerated version of LBsoft, a MPI-based software for simulating multi-component colloidal flows. The design principles, optimization, and performance of LBcuda compared to the CPU version are described, using both a low-cost GPU and high-end NVidia GPU cards (V100 and A100). Results show a substantial acceleration for the fluid solver, reaching up to 200 GLUPS on a cluster of 512 A100 NVIDIA cards simulating a grid of eight billion lattice points.