A Component Architecture for High-Performance Computing

Abstract

The Common Component Architecture (CCA) provides a means for developers to manage the complexity of large-scale scientific software systems and to move toward a "plug and play" environment for high-performance computing. The CCA model allows for a direct connection between components within the same process to maintain performance on inter-component calls. It is neutral with respect to parallelism, allowing components to use whatever means they desire to communicate within their parallel "cohort." We will discuss in detail the importance of performance in the design of the CCA and will analyze the performance costs associated with features of the CCA.