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<url>http://www.nas.nasa.gov/NAS/Tools/Projects/AIMS/
<title>AIMS - An Automated Instrumentation and Monitoring System
<abstract>
AIMS is a software toolkit that facilitates performance evaluation
of parallel applications on multiprocessors. 
It includes
    1. xinstrument: a source-code instrumentor that supports Fortran77
       and C message-passing programs written under two
       communication libraries: MPI and PVM. 
    2. monitor: a library of timestamping and trace-collection routines
       that run on the IBM SP-2, as well as networks of workstations
       (including Convex/HP Cluster, SparcStations, SGIs, and
       SGI/PowerChallenge connected by a LAN). 
    3. pc: a utility for removing monitoring overhead and its effects on the
       communication patterns as recorded on the tracefile. 
    4. Visualization/Analysis Toolkit: a tracefile animation and analysis
       toolkit: The tracefile contains event records of the program
       execution. After execution, it is collected and transferred to a
       graphics workstation where it can be analyzed and displayed by
       AIMS' visualization toolkits. AIMS provides four trace
       post-processing kernels to support, respectively,
       visualization/animation, text-based profiling, hierarchical
       performance tuning, and performance prediction. 
    5. atopg: a suite of compatibility tools that convert AIMS-generated
       traces into formats used by other performance-visualization tools,
       such as Pablo, ParaGraph, and certain AVS/Explorer modules. 
AIMS can be used to illustrate algorithm behavior, help analyze program
execution and highlight problem areas that can then be modified to
improve program execution.
</abstract>
<contact>yan@nas.nasa.gov
<keywords>performance analysis; performance visualization
<category>ppt-exe
<environment>
Currently, AIMS accepts FORTRAN and C parallel programs written using
two message passing libraries: MPI and PVM.
The platforms currently supported include the IBM SP2
and clusters of workstations such as sunSparcs, SGI,
SGI/PowerChallenge and HP). Earlier versions supporting CMMD on TMC's
CM-5, NX on Intel's Paragon are no longer supported but the source code can be
made available through special arrangement. A version of AIMS supporting HPF is
being developed in conjunction with Portland Group.
</urc>