Introduction to the WarpIV Kernel

Speaker: Jeffrey S. Steinman, WarpIV Technologies, Inc.
January 28, 2021

Presentation

Abstract

The WarpIV Kernel is a vast collection of scalable high-performance computing software tools primarily designed to support Parallel Discrete-Event Simulation (PDES) for defense-related applications. It is free and open source (with some restrictions on redistribution), runs on all mainstream platforms (Linux, Mac OS X, other variants of UNIX, and Windows), supports all widely used C++ compilers, is fully self-contained (more than 800,000 lines of application-neutral code) with no third-party software dependencies, and is exportable to foreign countries that are friendly to the United States. It runs on machines ranging multicore laptops to the world’s largest supercomputers.

Some of the capabilities of the WarpIV Kernel include: (a) high-performance communications, (b) advanced synchronization techniques for optimistic discrete-event simulation with dynamic flow control to maintain stability, (c) advanced modeling constructs to simplify the development of composable and intelligent models, (d) publish and subscribe services to efficiently share data and schedule events between distributed models in logical time, (e) large assortment of software utilities involving math, motion, random number generation, data structures, algorithms, and data parsers (f) scalable infrastructure for federating simulations (including self-federating to achieve parallel speedup for sequential simulations), (g) bit-compressed data logging for parallel and distributed applications that generate large volumes of data, (h) a variety of tools for debugging and profiling parallel applications including a critical path analysis of simulations to determine maximum inherent speedup, (i) Parallel Application Launching (PAL), (j) distributed grid-computing infrastructure, (k) optimization engine (based on grid computing) for launching and intelligently guiding goal-oriented M&S excursions, (l) various graphical tools for constructing cross-platform user interfaces, developing composable models, visualizing scenarios, and mathematically analyzing results, and (m) five-dimensional simulation that executes multiple timeline branches in a single parallel excursion, where maximal computation sharing is provided between parallel universe timelines.

This introductory talk will provide a high-level overview of these WarpIV Kernel capabilities and then demonstrate recent work performed for NASA on a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I effort where four very different NASA-related applications were quickly developed: (1) simulation of planetary rings as an n-body gravitational system, (2) simulation of space debris with closest approach calculations in a missile-defense scenario involving launched rockets, interceptors, and satellites, (3) numerical computation of gravitational fields for ellipsoidal planets (e.g., Saturn), and (4) superposition of radio frequencies involving large numbers of moving transmitters and receivers where packetized signals are digitized.

Biography

Jeffrey Steinman, President and CEO of WarpIV Technologies, Inc., received his Ph.D. in High Energy Elementary Particle Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1988, where he studied the quark structure function of high-energy virtual photons at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Upon completing his Ph.D. dissertation, Steinman worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory/CalTech in the area of parallel and distributed supercomputing technologies as a member of the Hypercube Project. In 1990, he created the Synchronous Parallel Environment for Emulation and Discrete Event Simulation (SPEEDES) framework, which transitioned to industry in 1996 when Steinman joined Metron to form its High-Performance Computing Division. SPEEDES eventually became the core infrastructure for several large Missile Defense and billion-dollar Joint M&S programs. Steinman joined RAM Laboratories in 2000 as Vice President, Chief Scientist, and Director of High-Performance Computing Programs, and launched his own company, WarpIV Technologies, Inc., in 2005, where his focus has been the development and standardization of new high-performance parallel and distributed computing technologies based on the open source WarpIV Kernel. Steinman was the chair of the Parallel and Distributed Modeling & Simulation Standing Study Group (PDMS-SSG), has five NASA patents in the area of high-performance supercomputing, and has published more than 80 papers in the field of parallel and distributed M&S. He is the author of “The Roadmap” for next-generation M&S technology, and he is recognized as a leading expert within the international community in the areas of scalable, composable, and intelligent parallel and distributed M&S technology, AI, numerical methods on supercomputers, modeling of physical systems, verification and validation, Big Data (logging, compression, and playback), design of experiments, statistics, multidimensional optimization, and game theory.