Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The large-scale parallelization of the Boids model on the K computer and the heterogeneous multi-processing unit

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Artificial Life and Robotics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While attempting the parallelization of multiagent systems, a load imbalance often slows down the calculation. Hirokawa et al. presented a multilevel hierarchy of parallelism to mitigate the load-imbalance problem of the Boids model using a pseudo-quadruple arithmetic technique. In this paper, we modify the hierarchies of parallelization for both the K computer and a heterogeneous multiprocessing (HMP) unit, and evaluate the performance of the proposed solutions on these systems. We observed that the parallelization can decrease the negative effects of a load imbalance. Furthermore, we discovered that the power consumption can be effectively controlled by calculating the load and that the simultaneous use of both high-performance cores and low-energy cores slows down the calculations on the HMP unit. Parallelization has been reported to have the potential for enabling the completion of simulations in real time and to have the ability to evaluate up to 3000 billion agents using the K computer.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Weiss G (1999) Multiagent systems—modern approach to distributed artificial intelligence. MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  2. Collier N, North M (2012) Parallel agent-based simulation with repast for high performance computing. Simul Trans Soc Model Simul Int 89:1215–1235

    Google Scholar 

  3. Craig WR (1987) Flocks, herds, and schools: a distributed behavioral model. Comput Gr 21:25–34

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Terai M, Matsuzawa T (2006) MPI-OpenMP hybrid parallel computation in continuous-velocity lattice-gas model. In: Deane A, Brenner G, Ecer A, Emerson DR, McDonough J, Periaux J, Satofuka N, Tromeur-Dervout D (eds) Parallel computational fluid dynamics –theory and applications. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 477–484

    Google Scholar 

  5. Hirokawa Y, Nishikawa N, Asano T, Terai M, Matsuzawa T (2016) A study of real-time and 100 billion agents simulation using the Boids model. Artif Life Robot 21:525–530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-016-0308-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Grest GS, Dünweg B, Kremer K (1989) Vectorized link cell fortran code for molecular dynamics simulations for a large number of particles. Comput Phys Commun 55:269–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Balevičius R, Kačianauskas R, Džiugys A, Maknickas A, Vislavičius K (2005) Demmat code for numerical simulation of multi-particle systems dynamics. Inf Technol Control 34:71–78

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  8. Knuth DE (1969) The art of computer programming: seminumerical algorithm, chapter 4.2, vol 2. Addison Wesley, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  9. MPI Forum (2016) http://meetings.mpi-forum.org/. Accessed 16 Apr 2019

  10. OpenMP Architecture Review Board, OpenMP Specifications. http://openmp.org/. Accessed 16 Apr 2019

  11. Yokokawa M, Shoji F, Uno A, Kurokawa M, Watanabe T (2011) The K computer: Japanese next-generation supercomputer development project, In: IEEE/ACM international symposium on low power electronics and design, pp 371–372, https://doi.org/10.1109/islped.2011.5993668

  12. Fujitsu, SPARC64™ VIII Extensions (2010) http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/TC/sparc64viiifx-extensions.pdf. Accessed 16 Apr 2019

  13. Roy R (ed) (2017) ODROID-XU4 manual, rev.20170310. https://magazine.odroid.com/odroid-xu4. Accessed 16 Apr 2019

  14. Smith B, BjØrstad P, Gropp W (1996) Domain decomposition: parallel multilevel methods for elliptic partial multilevel methods for ellipitec partial equations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  15. Kurokawa M, Himeno R, Shigetani T, Matsuzawa T (2000) A case study of the partitioning patterns for domain decomposition method on VPP700E. RIKEN Rev 30:30–34

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by MEXT as “Exploratory Challenges on Post-K computer (Study on multilayered multiscale spacetime simulations for social and economical phenomena)”. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant number JP18K04676, JP17K00328.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokohama, Japan

    Yuichi Hirokawa & Noriaki Nishikawa

  2. RIKEN R-CCS, Kobe, Japan

    Masaaki Terai

  3. Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Nomi, Japan

    Teruo Matsuzawa

  4. Shonan Institute of Technology, Fujisawa, Japan

    Toshiyuki Asano

Authors
  1. Yuichi Hirokawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Masaaki Terai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Teruo Matsuzawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Noriaki Nishikawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Toshiyuki Asano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuichi Hirokawa.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hirokawa, Y., Terai, M., Matsuzawa, T. et al. The large-scale parallelization of the Boids model on the K computer and the heterogeneous multi-processing unit. Artif Life Robotics 25, 24–29 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-019-00562-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10015-019-00562-w

Keywords

Search

Navigation