Random Number Generators

oneAPI DPC++ Library (oneDPL) offers support of random number generation, including:

• Random number engines, which generate unsigned integer sequences of random numbers.

• Random number distributions (example: uniform_real_distribution), which converts the output of random number engines into various statistical distributions.

Random Number Engines

Random number engines use seed data as an entropy source to generate pseudo-random numbers. oneDPL provides several class templates for customized engines, they are defined in the header <oneapi/dpl/random>.

Engine	Description
linear_congruential_engine	Implements a linear congruential algorithm
subtract_with_carry_engine	Implements a subtract-with-carry algorithm
discard_block_engine	Implements a discard block adaptor

Predefined Random Number Engines

Predefined random number engines are instantiations of random number engines class templates. The types below are defined in the header <oneapi/dpl/random> under the oneapi::dpl:: namespace.

Type	Description
minstd_rand0	oneapi::dpl::linear_congruential_engine<std::uint32_t, 16807, 0, 2147483647>
minstd_rand	oneapi::dpl::linear_congruential_engine<std::uint32_t, 48271, 0, 2147483647>
ranlux24_base	oneapi::dpl::subtract_with_carry_engine<std::uint32_t, 24, 10, 24>
ranlux48_base	oneapi::dpl::subtract_with_carry_engine<std::uint64_t, 48, 5, 12>
ranlux24	oneapi::dpl::discard_block_engine<ranlux24_base, 223, 23>
ranlux48	oneapi::dpl::discard_block_engine<ranlux48_base, 389, 11>

The engines described below can efficiently generate vectors of random numbers. These types are defined in the header <oneapi/dpl/random> under the oneapi::dpl:: namespace.

Type	Description
template<std::int32_t N> minstd_rand0_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::linear_congruential_engine<sycl::vec<std::uint32_t, N>, 16807, 0, 2147483647> minstd_rand0 for a vector generation case
template<std::int32_t N> minstd_rand_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::linear_congruential_engine<sycl::vec<std::uint32_t, N>, 48271, 0, 2147483647> minstd_rand for a vector generation case
template<std::int32_t N> ranlux24_base_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::subtract_with_carry_engine<sycl::vec<std::uint32_t, N>, 24, 10, 24> ranlux24_base for a vector generation case
template<std::int32_t N> ranlux48_base_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::subtract_with_carry_engine<sycl::vec<std::uint64_t, N>, 48, 5, 12> ranlux48_base for a vector generation case
template<std::int32_t N> ranlux24_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::discard_block_engine<ranlux24_base_vec<N>, 223, 23> ranlux24 for a vector generation case
template<std::int32_t N> ranlux48_vec<N>	oneapi::dpl::discard_block_engine<ranlux48_base_vec<N>, 389, 11> ranlux48 for vector generation case

Random Number Distributions

Random number distributions process the output of random number engines in such a way that the resulting output is distributed according to a defined statistical probability density function. They are defined in the header <oneapi/dpl/random> under the oneapi::dpl:: namespace.

Distribution	Description
uniform_int_distribution	Produces integer values evenly distributed across a range
uniform_real_distribution	Produces real values evenly distributed across a range
normal_distribution	Produces real values according to the Normal (Gaussian) distribution
exponential_distribution	Produces real values according to the Exponential distribution
bernoulli_distribution	Produces bool values according to the Bernoulli distribution
geometric_distribution	Produces integer values according to the Geometric distribution
weibull_distribution	Produces real values according to the Weibull distribution
lognormal_distribution	Produces real values according to the Lognormal distribution
extreme_value_distribution	Produces real values according to the Extreme value (Gumbel) distribution
cauchy_distribution	Produces real values according to the Cauchy distribution

Usage Model of oneDPL Random Number Generation Functionality

Random number generation is available for SYCL* device-side and host-side code. For example:

#include <oneapi/dpl/random>
#include <sycl/sycl.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <vector>

int main() {
    sycl::queue queue(sycl::default_selector_v);

    std::int64_t nsamples = 100;
    std::uint32_t seed = 777;
    std::vector<float> x(nsamples);
    {
        sycl::buffer<float, 1> x_buf(x.data(), sycl::range<1>(x.size()));

        queue.submit([&] (sycl::handler &cgh) {

            auto x_acc =
            x_buf.template get_access<sycl::access::mode::write>(cgh);

            cgh.parallel_for<class count_kernel>(sycl::range<1>(nsamples),
                [=](sycl::item<1> idx) {
                std::uint64_t offset = idx.get_linear_id();

                // Create minstd_rand engine
                oneapi::dpl::minstd_rand engine(seed, offset);

                // Create float uniform_real_distribution distribution
                oneapi::dpl::uniform_real_distribution<float> distr;

                // Generate float random number
                auto res = distr(engine);

                // Store results to x_acc
                x_acc[idx] = res;
            });
        });
    }

    std::cout << "\nFirst 5 samples of minstd_rand with scalar generation" << std::endl;
    for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        std::cout << x.begin()[i] << std::endl;
    }

    std::cout << "\nLast 5 samples of minstd_rand with scalar generation" << std::endl;
    for(int i = 0; i < 5; i++) {
        std::cout << x.rbegin()[i] << std::endl;
    }
    return 0;
}