Experiments with Memory-to-Memory Coupling for End-to-End Fusion Simulation Workflows

Scientific applications are striving to accurately simulate multiple interacting physical processes that comprise complex phenomena being modeled. Efficient and scalable parallel implementations of these coupled simulations present challenging interaction and coordination requirements, especially when the coupled physical processes are computationally heterogeneous and progress at different speeds. In this paper, we present the design, implementation and evaluation of a memory-to-memory coupling framework for coupled scientific simulations on high-performance parallel computing platforms. The framework is driven by the coupling requirements of the Center for Plasma Edge Simulation, and it provides simple coupling abstractions as well as efficient asynchronous (RDMA-based) memory-to-memory data transport mechanisms that complement existing parallel programming systems and data sharing frameworks. The framework enables flexible coupling behaviors that are asynchronous in time and space, and it supports dynamic coupling between heterogeneous simulation processes without enforcing any synchronization constraints. We evaluate the performance and scalability of the coupling framework using a specific coupling scenario, on the Jaguar Cray XT5 system at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.