Evaluation of Parallel Computing on MPI Version PHITS Code

Abstract

The Message Passing Interface (MPI) technique is an old solution and an improvement on the Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport (MCNP) method’s enormous computational time, which has not been evaluated based on PHITS code—a recently developed Monte Carlo simulation code. We conducted simulations on Varian Clinac iX 6MV phase space data from the IAEA. Venselaar et al.’s method and criteria were used to validate the Monte Carlo simulation. The PC cluster has also been tested in terms of processor count and bch, which stands for unit calculation count per operation. The MPI version PHITS code’s speedup factor and the K-factor, which represent the serial portion of the cluster, were both evaluated. All calculated data met the criteria except δ2, high dose, and high gradient of the beam profile data set. It was very clear that PC clusters with MPI were better than simple nodes up to 70.6%. Additionally, the speedup factor shows a tendency to follow Amdahl’s law. At the same time, the K-factor was saturated by a certain measure. The study concludes by arguing that the cluster has limitations that come from its serial composition. If we consider how improvements in specifications affect simulation time, this cluster system could be more effective.

Keywords

• PHITS
• MCNP
• cluster
• parallel computing
• radiotherapy