William David Smith

Towards an RCC-based accelerator for computational fluid dynamics applications

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) applications are a critical tool in designing sophisticated mechanical systems such as jet engines and gas turbines. CFD applications use intensive floating-point calculations and are typically run on High-Performance Computing (HPC) systems. We analyze three of the most compute intensive functions (Euler, Viscous, and Smoothing algorithms) and develop a baseline system architecture for accelerating these functions in RCC hardware. We then present detailed design data for the most compute intensive (Euler) function. Based on this analysis, we show that an RCC-based CFD accelerator—compared to conventional processors—promises dramatic improvement in sustained compute speed at better price-performance ratios coupled with much lower overall power consumption.

Flexible module generation in the FACE design environment

The Flexible Architecture Compilation Environment (FACE) provides a common object-oriented representation for design information. A module-generation system built within the FACE environment that uses parameterized procedural module descriptions is discussed. These generators capture the knowledge of a designer and facilitate a high level of reuse of the modules and leaf cells. The system provides a general mechanism to parameterize design information and supports complex generators ranging from tiled structures to entire chips. This approach is applicable to many hardware architectures. Experience in the design of working VLSI chips is discussed.<<ETX>>

FACE Core Environment: The Model and its Application in CAE/CAD Tool Development

Many aspects of design automation software have similar requirements for representing, manipulating, and storing design information. The recognition of these common requirements in CAD tools, allows the Flexible Architecture Compilation Environments (FACE) Core Environment to provide a suite of high level tools for the CAD developer. The Core Environment software has been developed using object-oriented software technology, and may be readily adapted to specific applications. The focus of the core environment is to improve the productivity of CAD tool developers through better tool integration and a state-of-the-art software development environment. This Core Environment software has been used in the development of an integrated tool set covering algorithm specification, structural synthesis, and physical assembly of digital hardware systems. The focus of this paper is on the Core Environments organization and its use in application tool development.

Simulating Large-Scale P2P Assisted Video Streaming

In this paper, we show through detailed simulations that BitTorrent can be used to assist a server or content distribution network (CDN) for large-scale streaming delivery. Specifically, a content owner can distribute a file to over 131,072 users/peers with a peak swarm size of 16,384 concurrent users and a CDN bandwidth savings of 73%, while achieving an average user buffer time of under 2 seconds, which is an A+ on the StreamQ user performance rating system. Current research and even deployed systems rarely have swarms in excess of 1,000 concurrent peers for a single piece of content. Consequently, this is the first study that reports on peer-to-peer streaming for swarms of this scale. Further, the simulation model demonstrates that a high quality of service can be provided, while significantly reducing the distributor’s transit costs for these large swarms.

An Abstract Internet Topology Model for Simulating Peer-to-Peer Content Distribution

In recent years, many researchers have run simulations of the Internet. The Internets inherent heterogeneity and constantly changing nature make it difficult to construct a realistic, yet computationally feasible model. In the construction of any model, one must take into consideration flexibility, accuracy, required resources, execution time, and realism. In this paper, we discuss the methodology and creation of a model used to simulate Internet content distribution, and the rationale used behind its design. In particular, we are interested in modeling the in-home consumer broadband Internet, while preserving geographical market relationships. In our performance study, our simulations experience tremendous speedups, and require a fraction of the memory of other models, without sacrificing the accuracy of our findings. Specifically, our piece-level model achieves the accuracy of a packet-level model, while requiring the processing of 40 times fewer events.

High-Level Graphical User Interface Management in the FACE Synthesis Environment

We discuss the design and implementation of VISAGE, an object-oriented user interface framework that is part of GEs FACE Flexible Architecture Compiler Environment [1]. High-level services include a domain-independent graph editor that provides standard methods for viewing and editing hierarchical graphs, including graph layout. Editors that are customized to a specific application are built by inheritance of the domain-independent graph editors functionality and overloading of the display, selection and editing methods. At a lower layer, presentation objects are responsible for parsing user input, displaying application output, providing mouse sensitivity and command dialogue execution. These presentation objects separate the application from its user interface, and thus promote system modularity.