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diff src/fftw-3.3.3/doc/FAQ/fftw-faq.bfnn @ 10:37bf6b4a2645
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author | Chris Cannam |
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date | Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:35:50 +0000 |
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--- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 +++ b/src/fftw-3.3.3/doc/FAQ/fftw-faq.bfnn Wed Mar 20 15:35:50 2013 +0000 @@ -0,0 +1,707 @@ +\comment This is the source for the FFTW FAQ list, in +\comment the Bizarre Format With No Name. It is turned into Lout +\comment input, HTML, plain ASCII and an Info document by a Perl script. +\comment +\comment The format and scripts come from the Linux FAQ, by +\comment Ian Jackson. +\set brieftitle FFTW FAQ +\set author <A href="http://www.fftw.org">Matteo Frigo and Steven G. Johnson</A> / <A href="mailto:fftw@fftw.org">fftw@fftw.org</A> +\set authormail fftw@fftw.org +\set title FFTW Frequently Asked Questions with Answers +\set copyholder Matteo Frigo and Massachusetts Institute of Technology +\call-html startup html.refs2 +\copyto ASCII + FFTW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS + `date '+%d %h %Y'` + Matteo Frigo + Steven G. Johnson + <fftw@fftw.org> + +\endcopy +\copyto INFO +START-INFO-DIR-ENTRY +* FFTW FAQ: (fftw-faq). FFTW Frequently Asked Questions with Answers. +END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY + + +File: $prefix.info, Node: Top, Next: Question 1.1, Up: (dir) + + FFTW FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS + `date '+%d %h %Y'` + Matteo Frigo + Steven G. Johnson + <fftw@fftw.org> + +\endcopy + +This is the list of Frequently Asked Questions about FFTW, a +collection of fast C routines for computing the Discrete Fourier +Transform in one or more dimensions. + +\section Index + +\index + +\comment ###################################################################### + +\section Introduction and General Information + +\question 26aug:whatisfftw What is FFTW? + +FFTW is a free collection of fast C routines for computing the +Discrete Fourier Transform in one or more dimensions. It includes +complex, real, symmetric, and parallel transforms, and can handle +arbitrary array sizes efficiently. FFTW is typically faster than +other publically-available FFT implementations, and is even +competitive with vendor-tuned libraries. (See our web page for +extensive benchmarks.) To achieve this performance, FFTW uses novel +code-generation and runtime self-optimization techniques (along with +many other tricks). + +\question 26aug:whereisfftw How do I obtain FFTW? + +FFTW can be found at \docref{the FFTW web page\}. You can also +retrieve it from \ftpon ftp.fftw.org in \ftpin /pub/fftw. + +\question 26aug:isfftwfree Is FFTW free software? + +Starting with version 1.3, FFTW is Free Software in the technical +sense defined by the Free Software Foundation (see \docref{Categories +of Free and Non-Free Software\}), and is distributed under the terms +of the GNU General Public License. Previous versions of FFTW were +distributed without fee for noncommercial use, but were not +technically ``free.'' + +Non-free licenses for FFTW are also available that permit different +terms of use than the GPL. + +\question 10apr:nonfree What is this about non-free licenses? + +The non-free licenses are for companies that wish to use FFTW in their +products but are unwilling to release their software under the GPL +(which would require them to release source code and allow free +redistribution). Such users can purchase an unlimited-use license +from MIT. Contact us for more details. + +We could instead have released FFTW under the LGPL, or even disallowed +non-Free usage. Suffice it to say, however, that MIT owns the +copyright to FFTW and they only let us GPL it because we convinced +them that it would neither affect their licensing revenue nor irritate +existing licensees. + +\question 24oct:west In the West? I thought MIT was in the East? + +Not to an Italian. You could say that we're a Spaghetti Western +(with apologies to Sergio Leone). + +\comment ###################################################################### + +\section Installing FFTW + +\question 26aug:systems Which systems does FFTW run on? + +FFTW is written in ANSI C, and should work on any system with a decent +C compiler. (See also \qref runOnWindows, \qref compilerCrashes.) +FFTW can also take advantage of certain hardware-specific features, +such as cycle counters and SIMD instructions, but this is optional. + +\question 26aug:runOnWindows Does FFTW run on Windows? + +Yes, many people have reported successfully using FFTW on Windows with +various compilers. FFTW was not developed on Windows, but the source +code is essentially straight ANSI C. See also the \docref{FFTW +Windows installation notes\}, \qref compilerCrashes, and \qref +vbetalia. + +\question 26aug:compilerCrashes My compiler has trouble with FFTW. + +Complain fiercely to the vendor of the compiler. + +We have successfully used \courier{gcc\} 3.2.x on x86 and PPC, a +recent Compaq C compiler for Alpha, version 6 of IBM's \courier{xlc\} +compiler for AIX, Intel's \courier{icc\} versions 5-7, and Sun +WorkShop \courier{cc\} version 6. + +FFTW is likely to push compilers to their limits, however, and several +compiler bugs have been exposed by FFTW. A partial list follows. + +\courier{gcc\} 2.95.x for Solaris/SPARC produces incorrect code for +the test program (workaround: recompile the \courier{libbench2\} +directory with \courier{-O2\}). + +NetBSD/macppc 1.6 comes with a \courier{gcc\} version that also +miscompiles the test program. (Please report a workaround if you know +one.) + +\courier{gcc\} 3.2.3 for ARM reportedly crashes during compilation. +This bug is reportedly fixed in later versions of \courier{gcc\}. + +Versions 8.0 and 8.1 of Intel's \courier{icc\} falsely claim to be +\courier{gcc\}, so you should specify \courier{CC="icc -no-gcc"\}; +this is automatic in FFTW 3.1. \courier{icc-8.0.066\} reportely +produces incorrect code for FFTW 2.1.5, but is fixed in version 8.1. +\courier{icc-7.1\} compiler build 20030402Z appears to produce +incorrect dependencies, causing the compilation to fail. +\courier{icc-7.1\} build 20030307Z appears to work fine. (Use +\courier{icc -V\} to check which build you have.) As of 2003/04/18, +build 20030402Z appears not to be available any longer on Intel's +website, whereas the older build 20030307Z is available. + +\courier{ranlib\} of GNU \courier{binutils\} 2.9.1 on Irix has been +observed to corrupt the FFTW libraries, causing a link failure when +FFTW is compiled. Since \courier{ranlib\} is completely superfluous +on Irix, we suggest deleting it from your system and replacing it with +a symbolic link to \courier{/bin/echo\}. + +If support for SIMD instructions is enabled in FFTW, further compiler +problems may appear: + +\courier{gcc\} 3.4.[0123] for x86 produces incorrect SSE2 code for +FFTW when \courier{-O2\} (the best choice for FFTW) is used, causing +FFTW to crash (\courier{make check\} crashes). This bug is fixed in +\courier{gcc\} 3.4.4. On x86_64 (amd64/em64t), \courier{gcc\} 3.4.4 +reportedly still has a similar problem, but this is fixed as of +\courier{gcc\} 3.4.6. + +\courier{gcc-3.2\} for x86 produces incorrect SIMD code if +\courier{-O3\} is used. The same compiler produces incorrect SIMD +code if no optimization is used, too. When using \courier{gcc-3.2\}, +it is a good idea not to change the default \courier{CFLAGS\} selected +by the \courier{configure\} script. + +Some 3.0.x and 3.1.x versions of \courier{gcc\} on \courier{x86\} may +crash. \courier{gcc\} so-called 2.96 shipping with RedHat 7.3 crashes +when compiling SIMD code. In both cases, please upgrade to +\courier{gcc-3.2\} or later. + +Intel's \courier{icc\} 6.0 misaligns SSE constants, but FFTW has a +workaround. \courier{icc\} 8.x fails to compile FFTW 3.0.x because it +falsely claims to be \courier{gcc\}; we believe this to be a bug in +\courier{icc\}, but FFTW 3.1 has a workaround. + +Visual C++ 2003 reportedly produces incorrect code for SSE/SSE2 when +compiling FFTW. This bug was reportedly fixed in VC++ 2005; +alternatively, you could switch to the Intel compiler. VC++ 6.0 also +reportedly produces incorrect code for the file +\courier{reodft11e-r2hc-odd.c\} unless optimizations are disabled for +that file. + +\courier{gcc\} 2.95 on MacOS X miscompiles AltiVec code (fixed in +later versions). \courier{gcc\} 3.2.x miscompiles AltiVec +permutations, but FFTW has a workaround. \courier{gcc\} 4.0.1 on +MacOS for Intel crashes when compiling FFTW; a workaround is to +compile one file without optimization: \courier{cd kernel; make +CFLAGS=" " trig.lo\}. + +\courier{gcc\} 4.1.1 reportedly crashes when compiling FFTW for MIPS; +the workaround is to compile the file it crashes on +(\courier{t2_64.c\}) with a lower optimization level. + +\courier{gcc\} versions 4.1.2 to 4.2.0 for x86 reportedly miscompile +FFTW 3.1's test program, causing \courier{make check\} to crash +(\courier{gcc\} bug #26528). The bug was reportedly fixed in +\courier{gcc\} version 4.2.1 and later. A workaround is to compile +\courier{libbench2/verify-lib.c\} without optimization. + +\question 26aug:solarisSucks FFTW does not compile on Solaris, complaining about \courier{const\}. + +We know that at least on Solaris 2.5.x with Sun's compilers 4.2 you +might get error messages from \courier{make\} such as + +\courier{"./fftw.h", line 88: warning: const is a keyword in ANSI C\} + +This is the case when the \courier{configure\} script reports that +\courier{const\} does not work: + +\courier{checking for working const... (cached) no\} + +You should be aware that Solaris comes with two compilers, namely, +\courier{/opt/SUNWspro/SC4.2/bin/cc\} and \courier{/usr/ucb/cc\}. The +latter compiler is non-ANSI. Indeed, it is a perverse shell script +that calls the real compiler in non-ANSI mode. In order +to compile FFTW, change your path so that the right \courier{cc\} +is used. + +To know whether your compiler is the right one, type +\courier{cc -V\}. If the compiler prints ``\courier{ucbcc\}'', +as in + +\courier{ucbcc: WorkShop Compilers 4.2 30 Oct 1996 C 4.2\} + +then the compiler is wrong. The right message is something like + +\courier{cc: WorkShop Compilers 4.2 30 Oct 1996 C 4.2\} + +\question 19mar:3dnow What's the difference between \courier{--enable-3dnow\} and \courier{--enable-k7\}? + +\courier{--enable-k7\} enables 3DNow! instructions on K7 processors +(AMD Athlon and its variants). K7 support is provided by assembly +routines generated by a special purpose compiler. +As of fftw-3.2, --enable-k7 is no longer supported. + +\courier{--enable-3dnow\} enables generic 3DNow! support using +\courier{gcc\} builtin functions. This works on earlier AMD +processors, but it is not as fast as our special assembly routines. +As of fftw-3.1, --enable-3dnow is no longer supported. + +\question 18apr:fma What's the difference between the fma and the non-fma versions? + +The fma version tries to exploit the fused multiply-add instructions +implemented in many processors such as PowerPC, ia-64, and MIPS. The +two FFTW packages are otherwise identical. In FFTW 3.1, the fma and +non-fma versions were merged together into a single package, and the +\courier{configure\} script attempts to automatically guess which +version to use. + +The FFTW 3.1 \courier{configure\} script enables fma by default on +PowerPC, Itanium, and PA-RISC, and disables it otherwise. You can +force one or the other by using the \courier{--enable-fma\} or +\courier{--disable-fma\} flag for \courier{configure\}. + +Definitely use fma if you have a PowerPC-based system with +\courier{gcc\} (or IBM \courier{xlc\}). This includes all GNU/Linux +systems for PowerPC and the older PowerPC-based MacOS systems. Also +use it on PA-RISC and Itanium with the HP/UX compiler. + +Definitely do not use the fma version if you have an ia-32 processor +(Intel, AMD, MacOS on Intel, etcetera). + +For other architectures/compilers, the situation is not so clear. For +example, ia-64 has the fma instruction, but \courier{gcc-3.2\} appears +not to exploit it correctly. Other compilers may do the right thing, +but we have not tried them. Please send us your feedback so that we +can update this FAQ entry. + +\question 26aug:languages Which language is FFTW written in? + +FFTW is written in ANSI C. Most of the code, however, was +automatically generated by a program called \courier{genfft\}, written +in the Objective Caml dialect of ML. You do not need to know ML or to +have an Objective Caml compiler in order to use FFTW. + +\courier{genfft\} is provided with the FFTW sources, which means that +you can play with the code generator if you want. In this case, you +need a working Objective Caml system. Objective Caml is available +from \docref{the Caml web page\}. + +\question 26aug:fortran Can I call FFTW from Fortran? + +Yes, FFTW (versions 1.3 and higher) contains a Fortran-callable +interface, documented in the FFTW manual. + +By default, FFTW configures its Fortran interface to work with the +first compiler it finds, e.g. \courier{g77\}. To configure for a +different, incompatible Fortran compiler \courier{foobar\}, use +\courier{./configure F77=foobar\} when installing FFTW. (In the case +of \courier{g77\}, however, FFTW 3.x also includes an extra set of +Fortran-callable routines with one less underscore at the end of +identifiers, which should cover most other Fortran compilers on Linux +at least.) + +\question 26aug:cplusplus Can I call FFTW from C++? + +Most definitely. FFTW should compile and/or link under any C++ +compiler. Moreover, it is likely that the C++ \courier{<complex>\} +template class is bit-compatible with FFTW's complex-number format +(see the FFTW manual for more details). + +\question 26aug:whynotfortran Why isn't FFTW written in Fortran/C++? + +Because we don't like those languages, and neither approaches the +portability of C. + +\question 29mar:singleprec How do I compile FFTW to run in single precision? + +On a Unix system: \courier{configure --enable-float\}. On a non-Unix +system: edit \courier{config.h\} to \courier{#define\} the symbol +\courier{FFTW_SINGLE\} (for FFTW 3.x). In both cases, you must then +recompile FFTW. In FFTW 3, all FFTW identifiers will then begin with +\courier{fftwf_\} instead of \courier{fftw_\}. + +\question 28mar:64bitk7 --enable-k7 does not work on x86-64 + +Support for --enable-k7 was discontinued in fftw-3.2. + +The fftw-3.1 release supports --enable-k7. This option only works on +32-bit x86 machines that implement 3DNow!, including the AMD Athlon +and the AMD Opteron in 32-bit mode. --enable-k7 does not work on AMD +Opteron in 64-bit mode. Use --enable-sse for x86-64 machines. + +FFTW supports 3DNow! by means of assembly code generated by a +special-purpose compiler. It is hard to produce assembly code that +works in both 32-bit and 64-bit mode. + +\comment ###################################################################### + +\section Using FFTW + +\question 15mar:fftw2to3 Why not support the FFTW 2 interface in FFTW 3? + +FFTW 3 has semantics incompatible with earlier versions: its plans can +only be used for a given stride, multiplicity, and other +characteristics of the input and output arrays; these stronger +semantics are necessary for performance reasons. Thus, it is +impossible to efficiently emulate the older interface (whose plans can +be used for any transform of the same size). We believe that it +should be possible to upgrade most programs without any difficulty, +however. + +\question 20mar:planperarray Why do FFTW 3 plans encapsulate the input/output arrays and not just the algorithm? + +There are several reasons: + +\call startlist +\call item +It was important for performance reasons that the plan be specific to +array characteristics like the stride (and alignment, for SIMD), and +requiring that the user maintain these invariants is error prone. +\call item +In most high-performance applications, as far as we can tell, you are +usually transforming the same array over and over, so FFTW's semantics +should not be a burden. +\call item +If you need to transform another array of the same size, creating a +new plan once the first exists is a cheap operation. +\call item +If you need to transform many arrays of the same size at once, you +should really use the \courier{plan_many\} routines in FFTW's "advanced" +interface. +\call item +If the abovementioned array characteristics are the same, you are +willing to pay close attention to the documentation, and you really +need to, we provide a "new-array execution" interface to apply a plan +to a new array. +\call endlist + +\question 25may:slow FFTW seems really slow. + +You are probably recreating the plan before every transform, rather +than creating it once and reusing it for all transforms of the same +size. FFTW is designed to be used in the following way: + +\call startlist +\call item +First, you create a plan. This will take several seconds. +\call item +Then, you reuse the plan many times to perform FFTs. These are fast. +\call endlist + +If you don't need to compute many transforms and the time for the +planner is significant, you have two options. First, you can use the +\courier{FFTW_ESTIMATE\} option in the planner, which uses heuristics +instead of runtime measurements and produces a good plan in a short +time. Second, you can use the wisdom feature to precompute the plan; +see \qref savePlans + +\question 22oct:slows FFTW slows down after repeated calls. + +Probably, NaNs or similar are creeping into your data, and the +slowdown is due to the resulting floating-point exceptions. For +example, be aware that repeatedly FFTing the same array is a diverging +process (because FFTW computes the unnormalized transform). + +\question 22oct:segfault An FFTW routine is crashing when I call it. + +Did the FFTW test programs pass (\courier{make check\}, or \courier{cd +tests; make bigcheck\} if you want to be paranoid)? If so, you almost +certainly have a bug in your own code. For example, you could be +passing invalid arguments (such as wrongly-sized arrays) to FFTW, or +you could simply have memory corruption elsewhere in your program that +causes random crashes later on. Please don't complain to us unless +you can come up with a minimal self-contained program (preferably +under 30 lines) that illustrates the problem. + +\question 22oct:fortran64 My Fortran program crashes when calling FFTW. + +As described in the manual, on 64-bit machines you must store the +plans in variables large enough to hold a pointer, for example +\courier{integer*8\}. We recommend using \courier{integer*8\} on +32-bit machines as well, to simplify porting. + +\question 24mar:conventions FFTW gives results different from my old FFT. + +People follow many different conventions for the DFT, and you should +be sure to know the ones that we use (described in the FFTW manual). +In particular, you should be aware that the +\courier{FFTW_FORWARD\}/\courier{FFTW_BACKWARD\} directions correspond +to signs of -1/+1 in the exponent of the DFT definition. +(\italic{Numerical Recipes\} uses the opposite convention.) + +You should also know that we compute an unnormalized transform. In +contrast, Matlab is an example of program that computes a normalized +transform. See \qref whyscaled. + +Finally, note that floating-point arithmetic is not exact, so +different FFT algorithms will give slightly different results (on the +order of the numerical accuracy; typically a fractional difference of +1e-15 or so in double precision). + +\question 31aug:nondeterministic FFTW gives different results between runs + +If you use \courier{FFTW_MEASURE\} or \courier{FFTW_PATIENT\} mode, +then the algorithm FFTW employs is not deterministic: it depends on +runtime performance measurements. This will cause the results to vary +slightly from run to run. However, the differences should be slight, +on the order of the floating-point precision, and therefore should +have no practical impact on most applications. + +If you use saved plans (wisdom) or \courier{FFTW_ESTIMATE\} mode, +however, then the algorithm is deterministic and the results should be +identical between runs. + +\question 26aug:savePlans Can I save FFTW's plans? + +Yes. Starting with version 1.2, FFTW provides the \courier{wisdom\} +mechanism for saving plans; see the FFTW manual. + +\question 14sep:whyscaled Why does your inverse transform return a scaled result? + +Computing the forward transform followed by the backward transform (or +vice versa) yields the original array scaled by the size of the array. +(For multi-dimensional transforms, the size of the array is the +product of the dimensions.) We could, instead, have chosen a +normalization that would have returned the unscaled array. Or, to +accomodate the many conventions in this matter, the transform routines +could have accepted a "scale factor" parameter. We did not do this, +however, for two reasons. First, we didn't want to sacrifice +performance in the common case where the scale factor is 1. Second, in +real applications the FFT is followed or preceded by some computation +on the data, into which the scale factor can typically be absorbed at +little or no cost. + +\question 02dec:centerorigin How can I make FFTW put the origin (zero frequency) at the center of its output? + +For human viewing of a spectrum, it is often convenient to put the +origin in frequency space at the center of the output array, rather +than in the zero-th element (the default in FFTW). If all of the +dimensions of your array are even, you can accomplish this by simply +multiplying each element of the input array by (-1)^(i + j + ...), +where i, j, etcetera are the indices of the element. (This trick is a +general property of the DFT, and is not specific to FFTW.) + +\question 08may:imageaudio How do I FFT an image/audio file in \italic{foobar\} format? + +FFTW performs an FFT on an array of floating-point values. You can +certainly use it to compute the transform of an image or audio stream, +but you are responsible for figuring out your data format and +converting it to the form FFTW requires. + +\question 09apr:linkfails My program does not link (on Unix). + +The libraries must be listed in the correct order (\courier{-lfftw3 +-lm\} for FFTW 3.x) and \italic{after\} your program sources/objects. +(The general rule is that if \italic{A\} uses \italic{B\}, then +\italic{A\} must be listed before \italic{B\} in the link command.). + +\question 15mar:linkheader I included your header, but linking still fails. + +You're a C++ programmer, aren't you? You have to compile the FFTW +library and link it into your program, not just \courier{#include +<fftw3.h>\}. (Yes, this is really a FAQ.) + +\question 22oct:nostack My program crashes, complaining about stack space. + +You cannot declare large arrays with automatic storage (e.g. via +\courier{fftw_complex array[N]\}); you should use +\courier{fftw_malloc\} (or equivalent) to allocate the arrays you want +to transform if they are larger than a few hundred elements. + +\question 13may:leaks FFTW seems to have a memory leak. + +After you create a plan, FFTW caches the information required to +quickly recreate the plan. (See \qref savePlans) It also maintains a +small amount of other persistent memory. You can deallocate all of +FFTW's internally allocated memory, if you wish, by calling +\courier{fftw_cleanup()\}, as documented in the manual. + +\question 16may:allzero The output of FFTW's transform is all zeros. + +You should initialize your input array \italic{after\} creating the +plan, unless you use \courier{FFTW_ESTIMATE\}: planning with +\courier{FFTW_MEASURE\} or \courier{FFTW_PATIENT\} overwrites the +input/output arrays, as described in the manual. + +\question 05sep:vbetalia How do I call FFTW from the Microsoft language du jour? + +Please \italic{do not\} ask us Windows-specific questions. We do not +use Windows. We know nothing about Visual Basic, Visual C++, or .NET. +Please find the appropriate Usenet discussion group and ask your +question there. See also \qref runOnWindows. + +\question 15oct:pruned Can I compute only a subset of the DFT outputs? + +In general, no, an FFT intrinsically computes all outputs from all +inputs. In principle, there is something called a \italic{pruned +FFT\} that can do what you want, but to compute K outputs out of N the +complexity is in general O(N log K) instead of O(N log N), thus saving +only a small additive factor in the log. (The same argument holds if +you instead have only K nonzero inputs.) + +There are some specific cases in which you can get the O(N log K) +performance benefits easily, however, by combining a few ordinary +FFTs. In particular, the case where you want the first K outputs, +where K divides N, can be handled by performing N/K transforms of size +K and then summing the outputs multiplied by appropriate phase +factors. For more details, see \docref{pruned FFTs with FFTW\}. + +There are also some algorithms that compute pruned transforms +\italic{approximately\}, but they are beyond the scope of this FAQ. + +\question 21jan:transpose Can I use FFTW's routines for in-place and out-of-place matrix transposition? + +You can use the FFTW guru interface to create a rank-0 transform of +vector rank 2 where the vector strides are transposed. (A rank-0 +transform is equivalent to a 1D transform of size 1, which. just +copies the input into the output.) Specifying the same location for +the input and output makes the transpose in-place. + +For double-valued data stored in row-major format, plan creation looks like +this: + +\verbatim +fftw_plan plan_transpose(int rows, int cols, double *in, double *out) +{ + const unsigned flags = FFTW_ESTIMATE; /* other flags are possible */ + fftw_iodim howmany_dims[2]; + + howmany_dims[0].n = rows; + howmany_dims[0].is = cols; + howmany_dims[0].os = 1; + + howmany_dims[1].n = cols; + howmany_dims[1].is = 1; + howmany_dims[1].os = rows; + + return fftw_plan_guru_r2r(/*rank=*/ 0, /*dims=*/ NULL, + /*howmany_rank=*/ 2, howmany_dims, + in, out, /*kind=*/ NULL, flags); +} +\endverbatim + +(This entry was written by Rhys Ulerich.) + +\comment ###################################################################### + +\section Internals of FFTW + +\question 26aug:howworks How does FFTW work? + +The innovation (if it can be so called) in FFTW consists in having a +variety of composable \italic{solvers\}, representing different FFT +algorithms and implementation strategies, whose combination into a +particular \italic{plan\} for a given size can be determined at +runtime according to the characteristics of your machine/compiler. +This peculiar software architecture allows FFTW to adapt itself to +almost any machine. + +For more details (albeit somewhat outdated), see the paper "FFTW: An +Adaptive Software Architecture for the FFT", by M. Frigo and +S. G. Johnson, \italic{Proc. ICASSP\} 3, 1381 (1998), also +available at \docref{the FFTW web page\}. + +\question 26aug:whyfast Why is FFTW so fast? + +This is a complex question, and there is no simple answer. In fact, +the authors do not fully know the answer, either. In addition to many +small performance hacks throughout FFTW, there are three general +reasons for FFTW's speed. + +\call startlist +\call item + FFTW uses a variety of FFT algorithms and implementation styles +that can be arbitrarily composed to adapt itself to +a machine. See \qref howworks. +\call item + FFTW uses a code generator to produce highly-optimized +routines for computing small transforms. +\call item + FFTW uses explicit divide-and-conquer to take advantage +of the memory hierarchy. +\call endlist + +For more details (albeit somewhat outdated), see the paper "FFTW: An +Adaptive Software Architecture for the FFT", by M. Frigo and +S. G. Johnson, \italic{Proc. ICASSP\} 3, 1381 (1998), +available along with other references at \docref{the FFTW web page\}. + +\comment ###################################################################### + +\section Known bugs + +\question 27aug:rfftwndbug FFTW 1.1 crashes in rfftwnd on Linux. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 1.2. There was a bug in \courier{rfftwnd\} +causing an incorrect amount of memory to be allocated. The bug showed +up in Linux with libc-5.3.12 (and nowhere else that we know of). + +\question 15oct:fftwmpibug The MPI transforms in FFTW 1.2 give incorrect results/leak memory. + +These bugs were corrected in FFTW 1.2.1. The MPI transforms (really, +just the transpose routines) in FFTW 1.2 had bugs that could cause +errors in some situations. + +\question 05nov:testsingbug The test programs in FFTW 1.2.1 fail when I change FFTW to use single precision. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 1.3. (Older versions of FFTW did +work in single precision, but the test programs didn't--the error +tolerances in the tests were set for double precision.) + +\question 24mar:teststoobig The test program in FFTW 1.2.1 fails for n > 46340. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 1.3. FFTW 1.2.1 produced the right answer, +but the test program was wrong. For large n, n*n in the naive +transform that we used for comparison overflows 32 bit integer +precision, breaking the test. + +\question 24aug:linuxthreads The threaded code fails on Linux Redhat 5.0 + +We had problems with glibc-2.0.5. The code should work with +glibc-2.0.7. + +\question 26sep:bigrfftwnd FFTW 2.0's rfftwnd fails for rank > 1 transforms with a final dimension >= 65536. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 2.0.1. (There was a 32-bit integer overflow due +to a poorly-parenthesized expression.) + +\question 26mar:primebug FFTW 2.0's complex transforms give the wrong results with prime factors 17 to 97. + +There was a bug in the complex transforms that could cause incorrect +results under (hopefully rare) circumstances for lengths with +intermediate-size prime factors (17-97). This bug was fixed in FFTW +2.1.1. + +\question 05apr:mpichbug FFTW 2.1.1's MPI test programs crash with MPICH. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 2.1.2. The 2.1/2.1.1 MPI test programs crashed +when using the MPICH implementation of MPI with the \courier{ch_p4\} +device (TCP/IP); the transforms themselves worked fine. + +\question 25may:aixthreadbug FFTW 2.1.2's multi-threaded transforms don't work on AIX. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 2.1.3. The multi-threaded transforms in +previous versions didn't work with AIX's \courier{pthreads\} +implementation, which idiosyncratically creates threads in detached +(non-joinable) mode by default. + +\question 27sep:bigprimebug FFTW 2.1.2's complex transforms give incorrect results for large prime sizes. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 2.1.3. FFTW's complex-transform algorithm +for prime sizes (in versions 2.0 to 2.1.2) had an integer overflow +problem that caused incorrect results for many primes greater than +32768 (on 32-bit machines). (Sizes without large prime factors are +not affected.) + +\question 25may:solaristhreadbug FFTW 2.1.3's multi-threaded transforms don't give any speedup on Solaris. + +This bug was fixed in FFTW 2.1.4. (By default, Solaris creates +threads that do not parallelize over multiple processors, so one has +to request the proper behavior specifically.) + +\question 03may:aixflags FFTW 2.1.3 crashes on AIX. + +The FFTW 2.1.3 \courier{configure\} script picked incorrect compiler +flags for the \courier{xlc\} compiler on newer IBM processors. This +is fixed in FFTW 2.1.4. + +\comment Here it ends! +