Design of a simulator of heterogeneous computing environments

摘要

Heterogeneous computing environments require performance evaluation techniques that are more sophisticated and cost-effective than those currently used. This paper presents the design of PS (PVM Simulator), an environment for the performance analysis of distributed applications executed in heterogeneous environments through the PVM run-time system. Firstly PS is described, showing the simulation environment adopted for its development and discussing the architecture of the simulator itself and its existing implementation. Then a case study is proposed in order to show the practical use of PS and to evaluate the accuracy of the performance indexes produced. The ability of the simulator to assess the effect of different hardware configurations on program performance is also considered. Finally the planned enhancements to the existing PS implementation are briefly discussed.