METHODOLOGY FOR PREDICTING MULTIPROCESSOR PERFORMANCE.

Abstract

The performance evaluation of the RP3 (Research Parallel Processor Prototype) machine is discussed. The results rely mainly on two methods, functional network simulation and probabilistic timing analysis. The timing analysis provides an interactive 'spreadsheet' environment for experimenting with network, memory and processor designs, providing immediate feedback to guide system designers. Functional simulation is used to correct and validate the analytic queuing models used in the timing analysis. The methods are presented, and it is shown how they are applied to RP3.