An architecture assessment environment for massively parallel computations

An architecture assessment environment is proposed for the design and performance evaluation of massively parallel real-time systems. Included are the major inherent phases of design activity and performance analysis that are implicit in the real-time design process. The major contribution is the definition of a comprehensive methodology and corresponding software support tools to allow and assist a designer in his/her development and assessment of parallel real-time systems. Included in the formulation is the ability to specify either homogeneous or heterogeneous hardware architectures, and to provide a basis for determining performance estimates early in the design process which could allow and direct intelligent design decisions. In addition, the methodology presented can be used to support the entire system life-cycle