PetaSIM: A Performance Estimator for Parallel Hierarchical Memory Systems

In both the design of parallel computer systems and the development of applications, it is very important to have good performance prediction tools. This paper describes a new approach-- PetaSIM, which is designed for the rapid prototyping stage of machine or application design. PetaSIM aims at good but not fully accurate results with a convenient applet interface for specification and interactive change of system parameters. Computers, networks and applications are described as objects in a Java IDL (Interface Definition Language) with special attention to the proper representation of caches and hierarchical memories. PetaSIM represents a prototype for a performance specification language or PSL. We present encouraging initial results for a set of data-intensive applications from the University of Maryland. We discuss the extension of PetaSIM to support applications of the type found in distributed collaborative engineering