Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Lock-Free Parallel Computing Using Theatre

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Proceedings of Fifth International Congress on Information and Communication Technology (ICICT 2020)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 1183))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

Theatre is a control-based actor system currently developed in Java, whose design specifically addresses the development of predictable, time-constrained distributed systems. Theatre, though, can also be used for untimed concurrent applications. The control structure regulating message scheduling and dispatching can be customized by programming. This paper describes a novel implementation pTheatre (Parallel Theatre), whose control structure can exploit the potential of parallel computing offered by nowadays multi-core machines. With respect to the distributed implementation of Theatre, pTheatre is more lightweight because it avoids the use of Java serialization during actor migration, and when transmitting messages from a computing node (theatre/thread) to another one. In addition, no locking mechanism is used both in high-level actor programs and in the underlying runtime support. This way, common pitfalls related to classic multi-threaded programming are naturally avoided, and the possibility of enabling high-performance computing is opened. The paper demonstrates the potential of the achieved realization through a parallel matrix multiplication example.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Agha, G.: Actors: a model of concurrent computation in distributed systems. PhD Thesis, MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Karmani, R.K., Agha, G.: Actors, pp. 1–11. Springer US, Boston, MA (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Agha, G., Palmskog, K.: Transforming threads into actors: learning concurrency structure from execution traces. In: Principles of Modelling, pp. 16–37. Springer, Cham (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Lee, E.A.: The problem with threads. Computer 39, 33–42 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1109/MC.2006.180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Jafari, A., Khamespanah, E., Sirjani, M., Hermanns, H., Cimini, M.: PTRebeca: modelling and analysis of distributed and asynchronous systems. Sci. Comput. Program. 128, 22–50 (2016)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Cicirelli, F., Nigro, L.: Control centric framework for model continuity in time-dependent multi-agent systems. In: Concurrency and Computation: Practice and Experience, vol. 28, no. 12, pp. 3333–3356. Wiley (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Cicirelli, F., Nigro, L., Sciammarella, P.F.: Model continuity in cyber-physical systems: a control centered methodology based on agents. Simul. Model. Pract. Theory 83, 93–107 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.simpat.2017.12.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Nigro, L., Sciammarella, P.F.: Qualitative and quantitative model checking of distributed probabilistic timed actors. Simul. Model. Pract. Theory 87, 343–368 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Cicirelli, F., Nigro, L., Sciammarella, P.F.: Seamless development in Java of distributed real-time systems using actors. Int. J. Simul. Process Model. 15, Nos 1/2, 13–29 (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Nigro, L., Sciammarella, P.F.: Verification of a smart power control systems using hybrid actors. In: IEEE WorldS4, London, 30–31 July 2019

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cicirelli, F., Nigro, L.: Home energy management using theatre with hybrid actors. In: IEEE/ACM 23rd International Symposium on Distributed Simulation and Real Time Application (DS-RT 2019), Cosenza, Italy, 7–9 Oct 2019

    Google Scholar 

  12. Fox, G.C.: Solving problems on concurrent processors. In: General Techniques and Regular Problems, vol. 1. Prentice-Hall (1988)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Fox, G.C., Otto, S.W., Hey, A.J.G.: Matrix algorithms on a hypercube I: matrix multiplication. Parallel Comput. 4, 17–31 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gergel, V.: Parallel methods for matrix multiplication. In: 2012 Summer School on Concurrency, pp. 1–50, St. Petersburg, Russia, 22–29 Aug 2012

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Independent Computing Professional, Rende, Italy

    Christian Nigro

  2. DIMES, University of Calabria, Quattromiglia, Italy

    Libero Nigro

Authors
  1. Christian Nigro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Libero Nigro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Libero Nigro .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Science and Technology, Middlesex University, London, UK

    Xin-She Yang

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Reading, Reading, UK

    R Simon Sherratt

  3. Department of Information Technology, Techno India Institute of Technology, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Nilanjan Dey

  4. Global Knowledge Research Foundation, Ahmedabad, India

    Amit Joshi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Nigro, C., Nigro, L. (2021). Lock-Free Parallel Computing Using Theatre. In: Yang, XS., Sherratt, R.S., Dey, N., Joshi, A. (eds) Proceedings of Fifth International Congress on Information and Communication Technology. ICICT 2020. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1183. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5856-6_65

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-5856-6_65

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-5855-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-5856-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation