Sparse Matrix Storage Format

Operations on Sparse Matrices are the key computational kernels in many scientific and engineering applications. They are characterized with poor substantiated performance. It is not uncommon for microprocessors to gain only 10-20% of their peak floating-point performance when doing sparse matrix computations even when special vector processors have been added as coprocessor facilities. In this paper we present new data format for sparse matrix storage. This format facilitates the continuous reuse of elements in the processing array. In comparison to other formats we achieve lower storage efficiency (only an extra bit per non-zero elements). A conjuncture of the proposed approach is that the hardware execution efficiency on sparse matrices can be improved. Keywords—Sparse Matrix Formats, Operation Efficiency, Hardware