Simulation of Systolic Arrays On The Connection Machine

Abstract

The use of a programming model which extends naturally from the underlying hardware, greatly eases the design and implementation of simulators, especially for those systems that resemble the hardware in the paradigm of computation. Given the characteristics of systolic arrays, SIMS computers which employ the data parallel programming model provide an ideal environment. In this paper, we present a systolic array simulator, a simulation tool written for the Connection Machine (model CM2), a SIMD machine with powerful interproccessor communication capabilities. Especially as recent advances have automated the design, there is a need for a verification environment to prototype systolic arrays. Primarily a simulation tool, the systolic array simulator also helps identify inefficiencies and motivates optimal design proir to implementation in either custom VLSI or DSP systems. Currently, we are updating the tool to allow the simulation of dynamic array reconfiguration algorithms under transient and permanent fault conditions. The simulator is also being ported the CM5.