Article

Free access

Stability of event synchronisation in distributed discrete event simulation

Authors:

Anurag Kumar,

Rajeev ShoreyAuthors Info & Claims

PADS '94: Proceedings of the eighth workshop on Parallel and distributed simulation

Pages 65 - 72

https://doi.org/10.1145/182478.182496

Published: 01 July 1994 Publication History

PDF eReader

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the behaviour of message queues in distributed discrete event simulators. We view a logical process in a distributed simulation as comprising a message sequencer with associated message queues, followed by an event processor. We show that, with standard stochastic assumptions for message arrival and time-stamp processes, the message queues are unstable for conservative sequencing, and for conservative sequencing with maximum lookahead and hence for optimistic resequencing, and for any resequencing algorithm that does not employ interprocessor “flow control”. These results point towards certain fundamental limits on the performance of distributed simulation of open queueing networks.

References

[1]

Baccelli, F., and Robert, Ph., "Analysis of update response times in a distributed data base maintained by the conservative time stamps ordering algorithm". In Performance, 83, 415-436.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[2]

Baccelli, F., and Makowski, A.M., "Synchronization in queueing systems". In Stochastic Analysis of Compuler and Communication Systems, Ed. H. Takagi, North-Holland, 1990, 57-129.

Google Scholar

[3]

Chandy, K.M., and Misra, J. "Asynchronous distributed simulation via a sequence of parallel computations". Commun. A CM 24, 11 (November 1981), 198-205.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[4]

(ginlar, E., Introduction to Stochastic Processes, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1975.

Google Scholar

[5]

Felderman, R.E., and Kleinrock, L. "Bounds and approximations for self-initiating distributed simulation without lookahead" A CM Trans. Modehng Comput. Simulatzon 1, 4 (October 1991), 386-406.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[6]

Fujimoto, R.M. "Parallel discrete event simulation", Commun. A CM 33, 10 (October 1990), 30- 53.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[7]

Harrison, J.M., "Assembly-like queues". J. Appl. Prob. 10 (1973), 354-367.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[8]

Jefferson, D.R. "Virtual time", ACM Trans. Prog. Lang. and Syst., 7, 3 (July 1985), 404-425.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[9]

Kaplan, M., "A sufficient condition for nonergodicity of a Markov Chain". {EEE Trans. h,form. Theory, IT-25, 4 (1979), pp. 470-471.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[10]

Kleinrock, L., Queueing Systems, Volume I: Theory, John Wiley L: Sons, 1975.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[11]

Kleinrock, L. "On distributed systems performance". Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 20 (1990), 209-215.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[12]

Kumar, Anurag and Shorey, Rajeev, "Stability & performance of distributed simulators for feedforward queueing networks", in preparation.

Google Scholar

[13]

Latouche, G. "Queues with paired customers". J. Appl. Prob. 18 (1981), 684-696.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[14]

Lubachevsky, B. D., "Efficient distributed eventdriven simulations of multiple-loop networks". Commun. A CM 32, 1 (January 1989), 111-123.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[15]

Misra, J. "Distributed discrete event simulation", A CM Comput. Surv. 18, 1 (March 1986), 39-65.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[16]

Mitra, D., and Mitrani, I. "Analysis and optimum performance of two message-passing parallel processors synchronised by rollback". In Performance '84, Elsevier Science Pub., North Holland, 1984, 35-50.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[17]

Nicol, D.M. "High performance parallelized discrete event simulation of stochastic queueing networks". In Proceedings of 1988 Winter Simulation Conference (December 1988), 306-314.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[18]

Nicol, D.M., "The cost of conservative synchronization in parallel discrete event simulations". JA CM, 40, 2 (April 1993), 304-333.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[19]

Shanker, M.S., and Patuwo, B.E., "The effect of synchronization requirements on the performance of distributed simulations". In Proceedings of the 7th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed Simulation (PADS), 1993, 151- 154.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[20]

Sokol, L. M., Weissman, J. B., and Mutchler, P. A., "MTW: An empirical performance study". In Proceedings of the 1991 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC), 557-563.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[21]

Szpankowski, W., "Some conditions for nonergodicity of Markov Chains". J. Appl. Prob. 22 (1985), 138-147.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[22]

Szpankowski, W., "Towards computable stability criteria for some multidimensional stochastic processes". In Stochastzc Analysis of Computer and Communication Systems, Ed. H. Takagi, North- Holland, 1990, 131-172.

Google Scholar

[23]

Wagner, D.B., and Lazowska, E.D., "Parallel simulation of queueing networks' limitations and potentials" Perf. Eval. Review, 17, 1 (May 1989), 146- 155.

Digital Library

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Manita ASimonot F(2005)Clustering in stochastic asynchronous algorithms for distributed simulationsProceedings of the Third international conference on StochasticAlgorithms: foundations and applications10.1007/11571155_3(26-37)Online publication date: 20-Oct-2005
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/11571155_3
SHANKER MPADMAN RKELTON W(2001)Efficient distributed simulation through dynamic load balancingIIE Transactions10.1080/0740817010893682333:3(203-217)Online publication date: Mar-2001
https://doi.org/10.1080/07408170108936823
Jha VBagrodia R(1996)A performance evaluation methodology for parallel simulation protocolsACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest10.1145/238793.23884226:1(180-185)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1996
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/238793.238842
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Stability of event synchronisation in distributed discrete event simulation
1. Computing methodologies
  1. Modeling and simulation
    1. Simulation types and techniques
      1. Discrete-event simulation
      2. Distributed simulation

Recommendations

Stability of event synchronisation in distributed discrete event simulation

This paper is concerned with the behaviour of message queues in distributed discrete event simulators. We view a logical process in a distributed simulation as comprising a message sequencer with associated message queues, followed by an event ...
Integration of distributed and concurrent discrete-event simulation
Hypersim: distributed discrete-event simulation on an iPSC
C³P: Proceedings of the third conference on Hypercube concurrent computers and applications: Architecture, software, computer systems, and general issues - Volume 1

This paper describes HYPERSIM, a distributed discrete-event simulation system developed as a research test bed for distributed simulation synchronization techniques. HYPERSIM is a Fortran-based, GASP-like distributed simulation software system which ...

Reviews

Reviewer: T. D. Blanchard

Distributed synchronization protocols ensure the temporal consistency of logical processes in a simulation. Conservative protocols insist that messages be processed in strict message arrival order. Kumar and Shorey prove that the message queues of a logical process will become unstable in all circumstances, requiring that messages be queued in unbounded store. Consequently, the performance of the distributed simulation must be constrained by interprocessor flow control. This research paper proves a fundamental consideration that has shaped many conservative algorithms, notably Lubachevsky's b ounded lag, which limits the forward processing of distinct logical processes, and Chandy-Misra's null messaging algorithm, which supports one-level message buffering. The proof is rigorous, if a little terse, and assumes the reader has a detailed knowledge of Markov chains. Sufficient references are supplied to allow evaluation of the proof from first principles. The paper, as the authors readily acknowledge, complements research undertaken by Shanker and Patuwo [1], who reached the same conclusions by heuristic reasoning. Anyone who is particularly interested in the fundamental concepts of conservative simulation will be interested in this useful paper. Its brevity may leave the reader wishing for a more thorough exploration of the themes of the paper.

Access critical reviews of Computing literature here

Become a reviewer for Computing Reviews.

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

PADS '94: Proceedings of the eighth workshop on Parallel and distributed simulation

August 1994

196 pages

ISBN:1565550277

DOI:10.1145/182478

Editors:
D. K. Arvind
Univ. of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
,
Rajive Bagrodia
Univ. of California, Los Angeles
,
Jason Yi-Bing Lin
Bellcore

ACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest Volume 24, Issue 1
July 1994
192 pages
ISSN:0163-6103
DOI:10.1145/195291
Editors:
D. K. Arvind
Univ. of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
,
Rajive Bagrodia
Univ. of California, Los Angeles
,
Jason Yi-Bing Lin
Bellcore, Morristown, NJ
Issue’s Table of Contents

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 July 1994

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Qualifiers

Article

Conference

8PADS94

Sponsor:

SCS
SIGSIM
IEEE-CS\TCSIM

8PADS94: ACM/IEEE 8th Workshop on Parallel and Distributed

July 6 - 8, 1994

Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Acceptance Rates

PADS '94 Paper Acceptance Rate 27 of 66 submissions, 41%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 398 of 779 submissions, 51%

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

12
Total Citations
View Citations
229
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)11
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)5

Reflects downloads up to 18 Aug 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Manita ASimonot F(2005)Clustering in stochastic asynchronous algorithms for distributed simulationsProceedings of the Third international conference on StochasticAlgorithms: foundations and applications10.1007/11571155_3(26-37)Online publication date: 20-Oct-2005
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/11571155_3
SHANKER MPADMAN RKELTON W(2001)Efficient distributed simulation through dynamic load balancingIIE Transactions10.1080/0740817010893682333:3(203-217)Online publication date: Mar-2001
https://doi.org/10.1080/07408170108936823
Jha VBagrodia R(1996)A performance evaluation methodology for parallel simulation protocolsACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest10.1145/238793.23884226:1(180-185)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1996
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/238793.238842
Gupta MKumar AShorey R(1996)Queueing models and stability of message flows in distributed simulators of open queueing networksACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest10.1145/238793.23884026:1(162-169)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1996
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/238793.238840
Jha VBagrodia RLouchs WPreiss B(1996)A performance evaluation methodology for parallel simulation protocolsProceedings of the tenth workshop on Parallel and distributed simulation10.1145/238788.238842(180-185)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1996
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/238788.238842
Gupta MKumar AShorey RLouchs WPreiss B(1996)Queueing models and stability of message flows in distributed simulators of open queueing networksProceedings of the tenth workshop on Parallel and distributed simulation10.1145/238788.238840(162-169)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1996
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/238788.238840
Jha VBagrodia R(1996)A Performance Evaluation Methodology for Parallel Simulation ProtocolsProceedings of Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Tools10.1109/PADS.1996.761576(180-185)Online publication date: 1996
https://doi.org/10.1109/PADS.1996.761576
Gupta MKumar AShorey R(1996)Queueing Models and Stability of Message Flows in Distributed Simulators of Open Queueing NetworksProceedings of Symposium on Parallel and Distributed Tools10.1109/PADS.1996.761574(162-169)Online publication date: 1996
https://doi.org/10.1109/PADS.1996.761574
Steinman JLee CWilson LNicol D(1995)Global Virtual Time and distributed synchronizationACM SIGSIM Simulation Digest10.1145/214283.21432425:1(139-148)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1995
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/214283.214324
Steinman JLee CWilson LNicol D(1995)Global Virtual Time and distributed synchronizationProceedings of the ninth workshop on Parallel and distributed simulation10.1145/214282.214324(139-148)Online publication date: 1-Jul-1995
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/214282.214324
Show More Cited By

View Options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations