\begin{document}
-\title{Simulation of Asynchronous Iterative Numerical Algorithms Using SimGrid}
+\title{Simulation of Asynchronous Iterative Algorithms Using SimGrid}
\author{%
\IEEEauthorblockN{%
\begin{abstract}
-Synchronous iterative algorithms is often less scalable than asynchronous
+Synchronous iterative algorithms are often less scalable than asynchronous
iterative ones. Performing large scale experiments with different kind of
-networks parameters is not easy because with supercomputers such parameters are
+network parameters is not easy because with supercomputers such parameters are
fixed. So one solution consists in using simulations first in order to analyze
what parameters could influence or not the behaviors of an algorithm. In this
paper, we show that it is interesting to use SimGrid to simulate the behaviors
of asynchronous iterative algorithms. For that, we compare the behaviour of a
synchronous GMRES algorithm with an asynchronous multisplitting one with
simulations in which we choose some parameters. Both codes are real MPI
-codes. Experiments allow us to see when the multisplitting algorithm can be more
-efficience than the GMRES one to solve a 3D Poisson problem.
+codes. Simulations allow us to see when the multisplitting algorithm can be more
+efficient than the GMRES one to solve a 3D Poisson problem.
% no keywords for IEEE conferences
increasing complexity of these requested applications combined with a continuous increase of their sizes lead to write
distributed and parallel algorithms requiring significant hardware resources (grid computing, clusters, broadband
network, etc.) but also a non-negligible CPU execution time. We consider in this paper a class of highly efficient
-parallel algorithms called \emph{numerical iterative algorithms} executed in a distributed environment. As their name
+parallel algorithms called \emph{iterative algorithms} executed in a distributed environment. As their name
suggests, these algorithms solve a given problem by successive iterations ($X_{n +1} = f(X_{n})$) from an initial value
$X_{0}$ to find an approximate value $X^*$ of the solution with a very low residual error. Several well-known methods
demonstrate the convergence of these algorithms~\cite{BT89,Bahi07}.
synchronous case, AIAC algorithms can significantly reduce overall execution times by suppressing idle times due to
synchronizations especially in a grid computing context (see~\cite{Bahi07} for more details).
-Parallel numerical applications (synchronous or asynchronous) may have different
-configuration and deployment requirements. Quantifying their resource
-allocation policies and application scheduling algorithms in grid computing
-environments under varying load, CPU power and network speeds is very costly,
-very labor intensive and very time
-consuming~\cite{Calheiros:2011:CTM:1951445.1951450}. The case of AIAC
-algorithms is even more problematic since they are very sensible to the
+Parallel (synchronous or asynchronous) applications may have different
+configuration and deployment requirements. Quantifying their resource
+allocation policies and application scheduling algorithms in grid computing
+environments under varying load, CPU power and network speeds is very costly,
+very labor intensive and very time
+consuming~\cite{Calheiros:2011:CTM:1951445.1951450}. The case of AIAC
+algorithms is even more problematic since they are very sensible to the
execution environment context. For instance, variations in the network bandwidth
-(intra and inter-clusters), in the number and the power of nodes, in the number
-of clusters\dots{} can lead to very different number of iterations and so to
-very different execution times. Then, it appears that the use of simulation
-tools to explore various platform scenarios and to run large numbers of
-experiments quickly can be very promising. In this way, the use of a simulation
-environment to execute parallel iterative algorithms found some interests in
-reducing the highly cost of access to computing resources: (1) for the
-applications development life cycle and in code debugging (2) and in production
-to get results in a reasonable execution time with a simulated infrastructure
-not accessible with physical resources. Indeed, the launch of distributed
-iterative asynchronous algorithms to solve a given problem on a large-scale
-simulated environment challenges to find optimal configurations giving the best
+(intra and inter-clusters), in the number and the power of nodes, in the number
+of clusters\dots{} can lead to very different number of iterations and so to
+very different execution times. Then, it appears that the use of simulation
+tools to explore various platform scenarios and to run large numbers of
+experiments quickly can be very promising. In this way, the use of a simulation
+environment to execute parallel iterative algorithms found some interests in
+reducing the highly cost of access to computing resources: (1) for the
+applications development life cycle and in code debugging (2) and in production
+to get results in a reasonable execution time with a simulated infrastructure
+not accessible with physical resources. Indeed, the launch of distributed
+iterative asynchronous algorithms to solve a given problem on a large-scale
+simulated environment challenges to find optimal configurations giving the best
results with a lowest residual error and in the best of execution time.
-To our knowledge, there is no existing work on the large-scale simulation of a
-real AIAC application. The aim of this paper is twofold. First we give a first
-approach of the simulation of AIAC algorithms using a simulation tool (i.e. the
-SimGrid toolkit~\cite{SimGrid}). Second, we confirm the effectiveness of
-asynchronous mode algorithms by comparing their performance with the synchronous
-mode. More precisely, we had implemented a program for solving large
-linear system of equations by numerical method GMRES (Generalized
-Minimal Residual) \cite{ref1}. We show, that with minor modifications of the
-initial MPI code, the SimGrid toolkit allows us to perform a test campaign of a
-real AIAC application on different computing architectures. The simulated
-results we obtained are in line with real results exposed in ??\AG[]{ref?}.
-SimGrid had allowed us to launch the application from a modest computing
-infrastructure by simulating different distributed architectures composed by
-clusters nodes interconnected by variable speed networks. With selected
-parameters on the network platforms (bandwidth, latency of inter cluster
-network) and on the clusters architecture (number, capacity calculation power)
-in the simulated environment, the experimental results have demonstrated not
-only the algorithm convergence within a reasonable time compared with the
-physical environment performance, but also a time saving of up to \np[\%]{40} in
-asynchronous mode.
-\AG{Il faudrait revoir la phrase précédente (couper en deux?). Là, on peut
- avoir l'impression que le gain de \np[\%]{40} est entre une exécution réelle
- et une exécution simulée!}
-
-This article is structured as follows: after this introduction, the next section will give a brief description of
-iterative asynchronous model. Then, the simulation framework SimGrid is presented with the settings to create various
-distributed architectures. The algorithm of the multisplitting method used by GMRES \LZK{??? GMRES n'utilise pas la méthode de multisplitting! Sinon ne doit on pas expliquer le choix d'une méthode de multisplitting?} written with MPI primitives and
-its adaptation to SimGrid with SMPI (Simulated MPI) is detailed in the next section. At last, the experiments results
-carried out will be presented before some concluding remarks and future works.
+To our knowledge, there is no existing work on the large-scale simulation of a
+real AIAC application. {\bf The contribution of the present paper can be
+ summarised in two main points}. First we give a first approach of the
+simulation of AIAC algorithms using a simulation tool (i.e. the SimGrid
+toolkit~\cite{SimGrid}). Second, we confirm the effectiveness of the
+asynchronous multisplitting algorithm by comparing its performance with the
+synchronous GMRES (Generalized Minimal Residual) \cite{ref1}. Both these codes
+can be used to solve large linear systems. In this paper, we focus on a 3D
+Poisson problem. We show, that with minor modifications of the initial MPI
+code, the SimGrid toolkit allows us to perform a test campaign of a real AIAC
+application on different computing architectures.
+% The simulated results we
+%obtained are in line with real results exposed in ??\AG[]{ref?}.
+SimGrid had allowed us to launch the application from a modest computing
+infrastructure by simulating different distributed architectures composed by
+clusters nodes interconnected by variable speed networks. Parameters of the
+network platforms are the bandwidth and the latency of inter cluster
+network. Parameters on the cluster's architecture are the number of machines and
+the computation power of a machine. Simulations show that the asynchronous
+multisplitting algorithm can solve the 3D Poisson problem approximately twice
+faster than GMRES with two distant clusters.
+
+
+
+This article is structured as follows: after this introduction, the next section
+will give a brief description of iterative asynchronous model. Then, the
+simulation framework SimGrid is presented with the settings to create various
+distributed architectures. Then, the multisplitting method is presented, it is
+based on GMRES to solve each block obtained of the splitting. This code is
+written with MPI primitives and its adaptation to SimGrid with SMPI (Simulated
+MPI) is detailed in the next section. At last, the simulation results carried
+out will be presented before some concluding remarks and future works.
\section{Motivations and scientific context}
-As exposed in the introduction, parallel iterative methods are now widely used in many scientific domains. They can be
-classified in three main classes depending on how iterations and communications are managed (for more details readers
-can refer to~\cite{bcvc06:ij}). In the \textit{Synchronous Iterations~-- Synchronous Communications (SISC)} model data
-are exchanged at the end of each iteration. All the processors must begin the same iteration at the same time and
-important idle times on processors are generated. The \textit{Synchronous Iterations~-- Asynchronous Communications
-(SIAC)} model can be compared to the previous one except that data required on another processor are sent asynchronously
-i.e. without stopping current computations. This technique allows to partially overlap communications by computations
-but unfortunately, the overlapping is only partial and important idle times remain. It is clear that, in a grid
-computing context, where the number of computational nodes is large, heterogeneous and widely distributed, the idle
-times generated by synchronizations are very penalizing. One way to overcome this problem is to use the
-\textit{Asynchronous Iterations~-- Asynchronous Communications (AIAC)} model. Here, local computations do not need to
-wait for required data. Processors can then perform their iterations with the data present at that time. Figure~\ref{fig:aiac}
-illustrates this model where the gray blocks represent the computation phases, the white spaces the idle
-times and the arrows the communications.
-\AG{There are no ``white spaces'' on the figure.}
-With this algorithmic model, the number of iterations required before the
-convergence is generally greater than for the two former classes. But, and as detailed in~\cite{bcvc06:ij}, AIAC
-algorithms can significantly reduce overall execution times by suppressing idle times due to synchronizations especially
-in a grid computing context.\LZK{Répétition par rapport à l'intro}
+As exposed in the introduction, parallel iterative methods are now widely used
+in many scientific domains. They can be classified in three main classes
+depending on how iterations and communications are managed (for more details
+readers can refer to~\cite{bcvc06:ij}). In the \textit{Synchronous Iterations~--
+ Synchronous Communications (SISC)} model data are exchanged at the end of each
+iteration. All the processors must begin the same iteration at the same time and
+important idle times on processors are generated. The \textit{Synchronous
+ Iterations~-- Asynchronous Communications (SIAC)} model can be compared to the
+previous one except that data required on another processor are sent
+asynchronously i.e. without stopping current computations. This technique
+allows to partially overlap communications by computations but unfortunately,
+the overlapping is only partial and important idle times remain. It is clear
+that, in a grid computing context, where the number of computational nodes is
+large, heterogeneous and widely distributed, the idle times generated by
+synchronizations are very penalizing. One way to overcome this problem is to use
+the \textit{Asynchronous Iterations~-- Asynchronous Communications (AIAC)}
+model. Here, local computations do not need to wait for required
+data. Processors can then perform their iterations with the data present at that
+time. Figure~\ref{fig:aiac} illustrates this model where the gray blocks
+represent the computation phases. With this algorithmic model, the number of
+iterations required before the convergence is generally greater than for the two
+former classes. But, and as detailed in~\cite{bcvc06:ij}, AIAC algorithms can
+significantly reduce overall execution times by suppressing idle times due to
+synchronizations especially in a grid computing context.
+%\LZK{Répétition par rapport à l'intro}
\begin{figure}[!t]
\centering
\label{fig:aiac}
\end{figure}
+\RC{Je serais partant de virer AIAC et laisser asynchronous algorithms... à voir}
+
+%% It is very challenging to develop efficient applications for large scale,
+%% heterogeneous and distributed platforms such as computing grids. Researchers and
+%% engineers have to develop techniques for maximizing application performance of
+%% these multi-cluster platforms, by redesigning the applications and/or by using
+%% novel algorithms that can account for the composite and heterogeneous nature of
+%% the platform. Unfortunately, the deployment of such applications on these very
+%% large scale systems is very costly, labor intensive and time consuming. In this
+%% context, it appears that the use of simulation tools to explore various platform
+%% scenarios at will and to run enormous numbers of experiments quickly can be very
+%% promising. Several works\dots{}
+
+%% \AG{Several works\dots{} what?\\
+% Le paragraphe suivant se trouve déjà dans l'intro ?}
+In the context of asynchronous algorithms, the number of iterations to reach the
+convergence depends on the delay of messages. With synchronous iterations, the
+number of iterations is exactly the same than in the sequential mode (if the
+parallelization process does not change the algorithm). So the difficulty with
+asynchronous algorithms comes from the fact it is necessary to run the algorithm
+with real data. In fact, from an execution to another the order of messages will
+change and the number of iterations to reach the convergence will also change.
+According to all the parameters of the platform (number of nodes, power of
+nodes, inter and intra clusrters bandwith and latency, ....) and of the
+algorithm (number of splitting with the multisplitting algorithm), the
+multisplitting code will obtain the solution more or less quickly. Or course,
+the GMRES method also depends of the same parameters. As it is difficult to have
+access to many clusters, grids or supercomputers with many different network
+parameters, it is interesting to be able to simulate the behaviors of
+asynchronous iterative algoritms before being able to runs real experiments.
+
-It is very challenging to develop efficient applications for large scale,
-heterogeneous and distributed platforms such as computing grids. Researchers and
-engineers have to develop techniques for maximizing application performance of
-these multi-cluster platforms, by redesigning the applications and/or by using
-novel algorithms that can account for the composite and heterogeneous nature of
-the platform. Unfortunately, the deployment of such applications on these very
-large scale systems is very costly, labor intensive and time consuming. In this
-context, it appears that the use of simulation tools to explore various platform
-scenarios at will and to run enormous numbers of experiments quickly can be very
-promising. Several works\dots{}
-
-\AG{Several works\dots{} what?\\
- Le paragraphe suivant se trouve déjà dans l'intro ?}
-In the context of AIAC algorithms, the use of simulation tools is even more
-relevant. Indeed, this class of applications is very sensible to the execution
-environment context. For instance, variations in the network bandwidth (intra
-and inter-clusters), in the number and the power of nodes, in the number of
-clusters\dots{} can lead to very different number of iterations and so to very
-different execution times.
