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Parallel Environment for DEVS and Cell-DEVS Models

Carleton University Centre for Advanced Visualization and Simulation (V-Sim) Department of Systems and Computer Engineering 3216 V-Sim Building 1125 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada {liuqi, gwainer}@sce.carleton.ca

Gabriel Wainer

Carleton University Centre for Advanced Visualization and Simulation (V-Sim) Department of Systems and Computer Engineering 3216 V-Sim Building 1125 Colonel By Drive Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada {liuqi, gwainer}@sce.carleton.ca

Discrete Event System Specification (DEVS) is a sound formalism to describe generic dynamic systems in a hierarchical and modular way. Cell-DEVS is a DEVS-based formalism intended to model compleX physical systems as cell spaces. This work presents new techniques for eXecuting DEVS and Cell-DEVS models in parallel and distributed environments based on the WARPED kernel, an implementation of the Time Warp protocol. The optimistic simulator PCD++, built as a new simulation engine for CD++, is a toolkit that implements the DEVS and Cell-DEVS formalisms. We redesign algorithms in CD++ to carry out optimistic simulations using a non-hierarchical approach that reduces the communication overhead. The message-passing organization is analyzed using a high-level abstraction referred to as wall clock time slice. We propose a two-level user-controlled state-saving mechanism to achieve efficient and fleXible state saving at runtime. Various optimization strategies are applied to PCD++ and their effects are analyzed quantitatively, including a risk-free message type-based state-saving strategy to reduce the number of states saved during the simulation significantly, and a one log file per node strategy to break the bottleneck caused by file I/O operations. It is shown that PCD++ markedly outperforms other alternatives and considerable speedups can be achieved in parallel and distributed simulations.

Key Words: Parallel DEVS models • Cell-DEVS models • discrete event simulation • optimistic synchronization techniques

SIMULATION, Vol. 83, No. 6, 449-471 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0037549707085084


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