popss - a parametric operating system simulator
In this paper we describe POPSS, an event driven simulator which is intended to simulate the activity of a computer system- hardware together with an operating system - as it processes a work-load. Input to the simulator is in the form of keyword parameters which are used for describing all three components - hardware, operating system, and workload. POPSS is a simulator as opposed to a simulation language. It is designed to model the inner workings of a computer system in addition to yielding the results usually associated with simulation. The program is highly modular, consisting of some 45 subprograms. Of these, there are 22 modules, each of which represents an operating system component (or possibly a part of one such component). Included in POPSS are built-in replacement features to allow a user the capability of designing alternative resource allocation strategies. These features are in addition to the standard subprogram replacement automatically available through the use of FORTRAN IV.
parametric operating system systems simulation paper event activation computation hardware process input use component workload language model association module modular feature user resource allocation strategies standardization