Performance tuning with AIMS/spl minus/an Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System for multicomputers

Whether a researcher is designing the "next parallel programming paradigm", another "scalable multiprocessor", or investigating resource allocation algorithms for multiprocessors, a facility that enables parallel program execution to be captured and displayed is invaluable. A software toolkit that facilitates performance evaluation of parallel applications on multiprocessors, the Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System (AIMS), is described in this paper. It has four major software components: a source-code instrumentor, which automatically inserts event recorders into the application; a run-time performance-monitoring library, which collects performance data; a trace-file animation and analysis toolkit; and a trace post-processor which compensates for the data collection overhead. We illustrate the process of performance tuning using AIMS with two examples. Currently, AIMS accepts FORTRAN and C parallel programs written for TMC's CM-5, Intel's iPSC/860, iPSC/Delta, Paragon, and HP workstations running PVM.<>