343488
An implementation of the SSF scalable simulation framework on the Cray MTA
Large-scale parallel discrete event simulations of massive networks, such as the Internet, are "Grand Challenge" problems: packet level simulation of even a small fraction of the Internet would consume the resources of the most powerful computers available. We reimplement the SSF scalable simulation framework so we can run large-scale network simulations originally written for DaSSF. Our implementation, CraySSF, is designed for the Cray-MTA, a multithreaded supercomputer architecture developed specifically to address large-scale computations of the kind that are not easily distributed. We describe the architecture, implementation issues, and preliminary performance results on a variety of (stock) serial and parallel architectures.
5434773
Simulation validation using direct execution of wireless ad-hoc routing protocols
Computer simulation is the most common approach to studying wireless ad-hoc routing algorithms. The results, however, are only as good as the models the simulation uses. One should not underestimate the importance of validation, as inaccurate models can lead to wrong conclusions. In this paper, we use direct-execution simulation to validate radio models used by ad-hoc routing protocols, against real-world experiments. This paper documents a common testbed that supports direct execution of a set of ad-hoc routing protocol implementations in a wireless network simulator. The testbed reads traces generated from real experiments, and uses them to drive direct-execution implementations of the routing protocols. Doing so we reproduce the same network conditions as in real experiments. By comparing routing behavior measured in real experiments with behavior computed by the simulation, we are able to validate the models of radio behavior upon which protocol behavior depends. We conclude that it is possible to have fairly accurate results using a simple radio model, but the routing behavior is quite sensitive to one of this model's parameters. The implication is that one should: i) use a more complex radio model that explicitly models point-to-point path loss; or ii) use measurements from an environment typical of the one of interest; or iii) study behavior over a range of environments to identify sensitivities.
44819319
Parallelizable execution-driven simulation of threaded distributed memory parallel computations
Discrete-event simulation is an important tool used for the performance evaluation of parallel systems. The space of tradeoffs is large however, when attempting to balance model fidelity and simulation execution tame. The paper describes a simulator-TAPS (Threaded Application Parallel System Simulator)-that, in the context of threaded parallel computations, provides a spectrum of possibilities in this tradeoff space. TAPS is specifically designed to be parallelized; we discuss some crucial considerations regarding its parallelization.
2599117
Composite Synchronization in Parallel Discrete-Event Simulation
This paper considers a technique for composing global (barrier-style) and local (channel scanning) synchronization protocols within a single parallel discrete-event simulation. Composition is attractive because it allows one to tailor the synchronization mechanism to the model being simulated. We first motivate the problem by showing the large performance gap that can be introduced by a mismatch of model and synchronization method. Our solution calls for each channel between submodels to be classified as synchronous or asynchronous. We mathematically formulate the problem of optimally classifying channels and show that, in principle, the optimal classification can be obtained in time proportional to max{C/spl times/log C, V/spl times/N}, where C is the number of channels, V the number of unique minimal delays on those channels, and N is the number of submodels. We then demonstrate an implementation which finds an optimal solution at runtime and consider its performance on network topologies, including one of the global Internet at the autonomous system level. We find that the automated method effectively determines channel assignments that maximize performance.
6360856
Lookahead revisited in wireless network simulations
Rapid growth in wireless communication systems motivates the development of technology supporting the simulation of large-scale wireless systems. However, it is widely recognized that wireless communications do not have substantial "lookahead" needed by conservative synchronization protocols. This paper focuses on identifying and exploiting lookahead for such models. We find lookahead in three ways, exploiting characteristics of low power networks, the transceiver logic, and the way in which protocol stacks are typically constructed. We show how these observations allow a variety of conservative synchronization protocols to take advantage of lookahead, describe a synchronization method we use, and empirically examine the performance this method offers on a large-scale simulation of a sensor network intended for homeland defense scenarios
15520988
Multiscale Modeling and Simulation of Worm Effects on the Internet Routing Infrastructure
An unexpected consequence of recent worm attacks on the Internet was that the routing infrastructure showed evidence of increased BGP announcement churn. As worm propagation dynamics are a function of the topology of a very large-scale network, a faithful simulation model must capture salient features at a variety of resolution scales. This paper describes our efforts to model worm propagation and its affect on routers and application traffic. Using our implementations of the Scalable Simulation Framework (SSF) API, we model worm propagation, its affect on the routing infrastructure and its affect on application traffic using multiscale traffic models.
14806639
A unified framework for resource discovery and QoS-aware provider selection in ad hoc networks
With the rising popularity of network-based applications and the potential use of mobile ad hoc networks in civilian life, an efficient resource discovery service is needed in such networks for quickly locating resource providers. In addition, to improve user experience, QoS awareness is also crucial. In this paper, we identify the challenges when basic resource discovery techniques for the Internet are used in mobile ad hoc networks. We then propose a framework that provides a unified solution to the discovery of resources and QoS-aware selection of resource providers. The key entities of this framework are a set of self-organized discovery agents. These agents manage the directory information of resources using hash indexing. They also dynamically partition the network into domains and collect intra- and inter-domain QoS information to select appropriate providers. Simulation results show that our framework improves the QoS delivered to the clients, while the cost and response time are kept at a low level.
911649
Emergent Constraint Satisfaction Through Multi-Agent Coordinated Interaction
We present a methodology, called Constraint Partition and Coordinated Reaction (CP&CR), for distributed constraint satisfaction based on partitioning the set of constraints into subsets of different constraint types. Associated with each constraint type is a set of specialised agents, each of which is responsible for enforcing constraints of the specified type for the set of variables under its jurisdiction. Variable instantiation is the joint responsibility of a set of agents, each of which has a different perspective on the instantiation according to a particular constraint type and can revise the instantiation in response to violations of the specific constraint type. The final solution emerges through incremental local revisions of an initial, possibly inconsistent, instantiation of all variables. Solution revision is the result of coordinated local reaction of the specialised constraint agents. We have applied the methodology to job shop scheduling, an NP-complete constraint satisfaction problem. Utility of different types of coordination information in CP&CR was investigated. In addition, experimental results on a benchmark suite of problems show that CP&CR performed considerably well as compared to other centralised search scheduling techniques, in both computational cost and number of problems solved.
30471911
Hamiltonian Decompositions of Cayley Graphs on Abelian Groups of Odd Order
640793
A component-based approach to modeling and simulating mixed-signal and hybrid systems
Systems with both continuous and discrete behaviors can be modeled using a mixed-signal style or a hybrid systems style. This article presents a component-based modeling and simulation framework that supports both modeling styles. The component framework, based on an actor metamodel, takes a hierarchical approach to manage heterogeneity in modeling complex systems. We describe how ordinary differential equations, discrete event systems, and finite-state machines can be built under this metamodel. A mixed-signal system is a hierarchical composition of continuous-time and discrete event models, and a hybrid system is a hierarchical composition of continuous-time and finite-state-machine models. Hierarchical composition and information hiding help build clean models and efficient execution engines. Simulation technologies, in particular, the interaction between a continuous-time ODE solving engine and various discrete simulation engines are discussed. A signal type system is introduced to schedule hybrid components inside a continuous-time environment. Breakpoints are used to control the numerical integration step sizes so that discrete events are handled properly. A "refiring" mechanism and a "rollback" mechanism are designed to manage continuous components inside a discrete event environment. The technologies are implemented in the Ptolemy II software environment. Examples are given to show the applications of this framework in mixed-signal and hybrid systems.
2277517
The World Wide Wisdom Web (W4)
In this talk, I will address the research and development needs for creating the new paradigm shift in Internet computing. In particular, I will present one of the most promising answers to such needs, called World Wide Wisdom Web (W4), and identify several challenges and enabling technologies in building the W4.