Structural Simulation Toolkit (SST)
The Structural Simulation Toolkit (SST) is a tool used to simulate large-scale and high-performance computing platforms. It allows users to design and test both the hardware (the physical parts of a computer) and software (the programs that run on the computer) together, seeing how they work with each other. This helps researchers understand and study new ideas in computer design. Design points such as instruction set architecture, memory systems, network interfaces, and the full system network can be studied together with programming models and algorithms.
SST has two differentiating features. First, it is designed to be modular which enables mixing and matching a variety of simulation models. This allows users to change and test specific parts of the system more easily. Second, it runs simulations in parallel, using common techniques including message passing (MPI) and threading. This makes it very efficient for simulating large and complicated systems. SST has been successfully used to study various concepts, including advanced memory processing and traditional processors that connect through high-speed networks.
Gwen Voskuilen, grvosku@sandia.gov