MBSPDiscover: An automatic benchmark for MultiBSP performance analysis

Abstract

Multi-Bulk Synchronous Parallel (MultiBSP) is a recently proposed parallel programming model for multicore machines that extends the classic BSP model. MultiBSP is very useful to design algorithms and estimate their running time, which are hard to do in High Performance Computing applications. For a correct estimation of the running time, the main parameters of the MultiBSP model for different multicore architectures need to be determined. This article presents a benchmark proposal for measuring the parameters that characterize the communication and synchronization cost for the model. Our approach discovers automatically the hierarchical structure of the multicore architecture by using a specific tool (hwloc) that allows obtaining runtime information about the machine. We describe the design, implementation and the results of benchmarking two multicore machines. Furthermore, we report the validation of the proposed method by using a real Multi- BSP implementation of the vector inner product algorithm and comparing the predicted execution time against the real execution time.