Time Quantum GVT: A Scalable Computation of the Global Virtual Time in Parallel Discrete Event Simulations

Main Article Content

Gilbert G. Chen
Boleslaw K. Szymanski

Abstract

This paper presents a new Global Virtual Time (GVT) algorithm, called TQ-GVT
that is at the heart of a new high performance Time Warp simulator designed
for large-scale clusters. Starting with a survey of numerous existing GVT
algorithms, the paper discusses how other GVT solutions, especially Mattern's
GVT algorithm, influenced the design of TQ-GVT, as well as how it avoided
several types of overheads that arise in clusters executing parallel
discrete simulations. The algorithm is presented in details, with a proof
of its correctness. Its effectiveness is then verified by experimental
results obtained on more than 1,000 processors for two applications, one
synthetic workload and the other a spiking neuron network simulation.

Article Details

Section
Special Issue Papers