Abstract
Today, parallel program behaviour is not well understood, and there are consequently no good models for parallel programs. Therefore, real programs often have to be used in performance evaluations. This has led to the development of advanced monitoring tools. However, these tools do not facilitate experimentation with different architectural parameters. Consequently, one often has to resort to expensive hardware prototyping.
The approach taken here was to build a multiprocessor system where some parts of the architecture are emulated in software, i.e. some of the architectural characteristics are defined in software and thus easy to alter. The emulation approach provides many advantages, e.g. architectural redesign in software and non-invasive measurements.
A parallel Ada system has been targeted to the experimental machine; thus, real parallel Ada programs can be used in the experiments.
The complete experimental system has been used to investigate how design decisions, concerning both hardware and software, affect the overall performance of parallel application programs.
This paper presents our experience using and developing the experimental system. The qualities of the system are demonstrated through two experiments.
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Lundberg, L. (1993). Performance evaluation of parallel Ada programs using an experimental multiprocessor. In: Gauthier, M. (eds) Ada - Europe '93. Ada-Europe 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 688. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56802-6_22
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56802-6_22
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