Question

A sequential program must complete steps in the order shown below. Each step takes a certain number of seconds to complete. The steps marked with (PARALLEL) can be executed in parallel. Calculate the speedup value and drag the correct numeric answer underneath the Speeding heading.

5 seconds - Step 1
15 seconds - Step 2 (PARALLEL)
15 seconds - Step 3 (PARALLEL)
15 seconds - Step 4 (PARALLEL)
10 seconds - Step 5

Choose from the following choices:
60
0.5
2
15
5

Answer 1

To calculate the speedup value, we need to find the total execution time for the sequential program and the total execution time for the parallel program.

For the sequential program:
Step 1 takes 5 seconds.
Step 2, 3, and 4 take 15 seconds each.
Step 5 takes 10 seconds.

Total execution time for the sequential program = 5 + 15 + 15 + 15 + 10 = 60 seconds.

For the parallel program:
Steps 2, 3, and 4 can be executed in parallel, so they will take 15 seconds regardless of whether they are executed in parallel or sequentially.

Total execution time for the parallel program = 5 + 15 + 10 = 30 seconds.

Speedup value = Sequential program execution time / Parallel program execution time = 60 / 30 = 2.

Therefore, the correct numeric answer for the speedup value is 2.