High-Performance Simulations for Capturing Feedback and Fidelity in Complex Networked Systems

Abstract

In a variety of complex networked systems, simulation is a powerful method to capture critical feedback effects among inter-dependent processes. Network-based phenomena in areas such as cyberinfrastructure, transportation, epidemiology, and social networks, all offer important analysis problems that need such feedback effects to be accurately captured. However, accurate modeling of feedback effects requires increased levels of model fidelity. Moreover, such high-fidelity, feedback-heavy models are especially characterized by very high computational needs. In this backdrop, the need for high-fidelity simulations is illustrated, with examples of how they are driving new high-performance computing-based solutions in the aforementioned areas. Our parallel computing approaches are described in the context of very large-scale, high-fidelity simulations in regional-scale transportation network simulations, nation-scale epidemiological simulations, and Internet simulations with detailed models millions of nodes.