Tuning and Verification of Simulation Models for High Speed Interconnect Fabrics

In this paper we demonstrate how the non-intrusive acquisition of interconnect trace data and a subsequent data analysis can be used to accurately tune the definition of interconnect loads and the parameterisation of interconnect simulation models. High speed interconnects or system area networks are the principal components of a compute cluster that transform stand alone computers into a cluster. The design of such interconnect fabrics may be assisted through performance prediction. This prediction is accomplished through simulation if the model's parameterisation reflects the physical fabric and realistic load descriptions are provided. This paper describes the software and hardware tools necessary to accurately tune a model that predicts the performance of an IEEE-1596 Scalable Coherent Interface (SCI) interconnect network. The simulation model is implemented in a param-eterised SCI node model in OPNET Modeler. SCI is one of the enabling interconnect technologies for high performance computing on desktop and server Clusters. This implementation proves the concept and demonstrates its suitability for other switched fabric interconnects such as InfiniBand T