The Portland Group has made available its Cuda Fortran compiler for x64 and x86 processor-based systems running Linux, Mac OS X and Windows. Developed in collaboration with Nvidia, PGI Release 2010 includes the first Fortran compiler compatible with the Nvidia line of Cuda-enabled GPUs. A compiler is a software tool that translates applications from the high-level programming languages in which they are written by software developers into a binary form a computer can execute.
With developers taking advantage of the hundreds of cores and the relatively low cost of Nvidia GPUs, programming to take advantage of the Cuda C compiler has become a popular means for accelerating the solution of complex computing problems. The PGI Cuda Fortran compiler is expected to accelerate GPU adoption even further in the HPC industry, where many important applications are written in Fortran. HPC is the field of technical computing engaged in the modelling and simulation of complex processes, such as ocean modelling, weather forecasting, environmental modelling, seismic analysis, bioinformatics and other areas.
The Cuda Fortran compiler is compatible with all Nvidia GPUs that include Compute Capability 1.3 or higher, which includes most Nvidia Quadro Professional Graphics solutions and all Nvidia Tesla GPU Computing solutions.
