Performance analysis of multiprocessor architectures via analytical simulation

Abstract

The performance analysis of network architectures is a very crucial factor in designing multiprocessor systems. Very often, simulation is the only feasible method because of the nature of the problem and because analytical techniques become too difficult to handle. However simulation can be costly to develop and run. The mathematical analysis approach is preferable but in most cases not applicable. This paper presents an analytical simulation method that can be used for the evaluation of interconnection network architectures that are based on buffered banyan networks. This method comprises the probabilistic analysis and the simulation technique, with the help of a mathematical software package MathConnex (of MathSoft Corporation). The analysis enables us to observe the behavior of various stages of the network architecture, under various traffic conditions.