Tomo3D 2.0--exploitation of advanced vector extensions (AVX) for 3D reconstruction

Area of Science:

• Computational imaging
• Electron tomography
• High-performance computing

Background:

• Tomographic reconstruction is computationally intensive.
• Existing software like Tomo3D utilizes Streaming SIMD Extensions (SSE) for speed.
• Advanced Vector eXtensions (AVX) offer greater parallel processing capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and assess AVX optimizations in Tomo3D.
• To evaluate the practical speed gains from AVX implementation.
• To enhance Tomo3D's performance for large-scale electron tomography.

Main Methods:

• Technical description of AVX integration into Tomo3D.
• Performance assessment of AVX versus SSE in tomographic reconstruction.
• Benchmarking reconstruction times on multicore computers.

Main Results:

• Tomo3D 2.0 effectively utilizes AVX instructions for faster computation.
• Optimizations enable significant speed improvements in tomographic reconstruction.
• Large-scale reconstructions are achievable in minutes on standard hardware.

Conclusions:

• Tomo3D 2.0 with AVX is a valuable tool for electron tomography.
• The software addresses the increasing resolution demands in the field.
• Accelerated reconstruction facilitates advanced studies in electron microscopy.