Energy consumption of synchronization algorithms in distributed simulations

Abstract

Power and energy consumption are important concerns in the design of high performance and mobile computing systems, but have not been widely considered in the design of parallel and distributed simulations. The importance of these factors is discussed and metrics for power and energy overhead in parallel and distributed simulations are proposed. Factors affecting the energy consumed by synchronization algorithms and software architectures are examined. An experimental study is presented examining energy consumption of the well-known Chandy/Misra/Bryant and YAWNS synchronization algorithms. The effects of lookahead and event communication on energy use are examined. Initial results concerning queueing network simulations are also presented. The results of this study suggest that existing distributed simulation algorithms require a significant amount of additional energy compared to a sequential execution. Further, different synchronization algorithms can yield different energy consumption behaviors.

Keywords:

• parallel discrete event simulation
• distributed simulation
• power-aware computing

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by NSF/AFOSR Grant 1462503.

Authors contribution

The paper discusses importance and relevance of power and energy consumption in the design of high performance and mobile computing systems, which to date has not received a widespread consideration in the design of parallel and distributed simulations. In addition to proposing effective metrics for power and energy overhead in parallel and distributed simulations, we experimentally examine factors affecting the energy consumed by synchronization algorithms and software architectures based on these metrics. The results of these studies suggest that existing distributed simulation algorithms require a significant amount of additional energy compared to a sequential execution. Further, different synchronization algorithms can yield very different energy consumption behaviors for different configurations.