GIT-CERCS-04-20
Kalyan S. Perumalla,
µsik -- A Micro Kernel for Parallel/Distributed Simulation
We present a novel micro-kernel approach to parallel/distributed
simulation. Using the micro-kernel approach, we develop a unified
architecture for incorporating multiple types of simulation processes.
The processes hold potential to employ a variety of synchronization
mechanisms, and could alter their choice of mechanism dynamically.
Supported mechanisms include traditional lookahead-based conservative and
state saving-based optimistic execution approaches, as well as newer
mechanisms such as reverse computation-based optimistic execution and
aggregation-based event processing, all within a single parsimonious
application programming interface (API). We also present the internal
implementation and a preliminary performance evaluation of this interface
in µsik, which is an efficient parallel/distributed realization of our
micro-kernel architecture in C++.