Colored Petri net methods for performance analysis of scalable high-speed interconnects

Large concurrent or distributed systems have proven notoriously difficult to comprehend due to their combinatoric complexity. There is a clear need for thorough formal system modeling at all design stages. Ease of use and validation capability are important criteria in method selection. It is important that the selection permit evaluation of design details with respect to performance and behavioral goals. Net models are a likely candidate to achieve the requisite needs of such a modeling environment. They provide both graphical and mathematical system modeling views which inherently enable both quantitative and qualitative analysis of the design. To demonstrate this claim, a colored Petri Net model and performance analysis of a particular scalable multiprocessor interconnect fabric is presented. The fundamental component of this fabric is an adaptive routing device, R2. The R2 fabric is based on the interconnection scheme used in the Mayfly parallel processing system