GPU Hardware Terminology.

Streaming Multiprocessors (SMs)

The core computational units of a GPU. Each SM handles multiple warps (groups of threads) and executes them in parallel.

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CUDA Cores

The individual processing units within an SM. CUDA cores perform arithmetic and logical operations in parallel, enabling massive computational throughput.

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SFU (Special Function Units)

Hardware units within an SM that handle complex mathematical functions like trigonometric, exponential, and logarithmic operations efficiently.

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LSU (Load/Store Unit)

Manages memory operations, including loading data from and storing data to global memory, shared memory, or registers.

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Warp Scheduler

A hardware scheduler within an SM that assigns warps to available execution units. It determines which warp to execute next, optimizing resource utilization.

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Registers

The fastest memory available, allocated per thread. Registers store temporary data used during computation.

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Shared Memory

Fast, on-chip memory shared among threads within the same block. Ideal for data reuse and reducing global memory access latency.

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L1 Cache

A small, fast cache within an SM that stores frequently accessed data to reduce latency when accessing global memory.

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GPU RAM

The main memory of the GPU (often called global memory). It provides high capacity but has higher latency compared to on-chip memory like shared memory and caches.

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Memory Mapping

Register → Thread
Shared Memory → Thread Block
L1 Cache → Streaming Multiprocessor (SM)
Global Memory → GPU

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