Title: System Synthesis Environment
Abstract:
This project will create a software product to assist computer engineers
in integrating performance modeling and simulation into the development
of complex parallel and distributed computing systems. A well-structured
Hierarchical Performance Modeling System (HPMS) will be used to provide
quantitative performance assessment of an entire system comprising of
hardware, software and communication. In addition to HPMS, various
simulation techniques will be used to assess the performance. The
design environment will predict system performance based on variations
in the system structure and environment at any level. The system will
support library-based software, hardware and communications models and
thus allows a designer to use a COTS approach in assembling and
assessing candidate system designs. Performance visualization
to accelerate model evaluation and comparison of design alternatives
is an essential component of the environment. The environment can be
used to assist in identifying effective partitioning and allocation
solutions for distributed systems. The product will assist the system
developers to incorporate performance metrics very early in the design
process. The project requires both extensive software development
effort and resolution of integration methods across hierarchical
software, analytic and simulation models.
The most attractive application domain for this environment is
in heterogeneous systems with execution time constraints, such as those
in commercial real-time systems and high performance applications.
Effective integration of the HPMS approach into the design and
implementation of complex computing systems is expected to both decrease
development time and increase system effectiveness.
