Middleware for a distributed reconfigurable simulator

Abstract

Simulations of physical layer communication systems using Monte Carlo methods usually require long execution times, because of the slow convergence of the performance estimator. By utilizing reconfigurable hardware and other processing elements such as programmable DSPs, the overall runtime of the simulation can be greatly reduced compared to traditional simulations involving general-purpose processors. To form a flexible simulation environment, it is necessary to have a method of interconnecting the various processing elements, whether within a single computer or distributed over network. In this paper, an example of a reconfigurable simulator is presented. Also, middleware for distributed reconfigurable simulation is presented. First, a detailed architecture is illustrated. Then the simulation process and applications using the middleware are discussed.