Extending the entry consistency model to enable efficient visualization for code-coupling grid applications

This paper addresses the problem of efficient visualization of shared data within code coupling grid applications. These applications are structured as a set of distributed, autonomous, weakly-coupled codes. We focus on the case where the codes are able to interact using the abstraction of a shared data space. We propose an efficient visualization scheme by adapting the mechanisms used to maintain the data consistency. We introduce a new operation called relaxed read, as an extension to the entry consistency model. This operation can efficiently take place without locking, in parallel with write operations. We discuss the benefits and the constraints of the proposed approach.