Ha, LinhKrueger, JensSilva, Claudio T.2015-02-232015-02-2320091467-8659https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8659.2009.01542.xEfficient sorting is a key requirement for many computer science algorithms. Acceleration of existing techniques as well as developing new sorting approaches is crucial for many real-time graphics scenarios, database systems, and numerical simulations to name just a few. It is one of the most fundamental operations to organize and filter the ever growing massive amounts of data gathered on a daily basis. While optimal sorting models for serial execution on a single processor exist, efficient parallel sorting remains a challenge. In this paper, we present a hardware-optimized parallel implementation of the radix sort algorithm that results in a significant speed up over existing sorting implementations. We outperform all known General Processing Unit (GPU) based sorting systems by about a factor of two and eliminate restrictions on the sorting key space. This makes our algorithm not only the fastest, but also the first general GPU sorting solution.10.1111/j.1467-8659.2009.01542.x2368-2378