Verificação de consistência e coerência de memória compartilhada para multiprocessamento em chip

Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência da Computação, Florianópolis, 2014O multiprocessamento em chip sob a crescente demanda por desempenho leva a um número crescente de núcleos de processamento, que interagem através de uma complexa hierarquia de memória compartilhada, a qual deve obedecer a requisitos de coerência e consistência, capturados na interface hardware-software na forma de um modelo de memória. Dada uma execução de um programa paralelo, verificar se a hierarquia obedece aqueles requisitos é um problema intratável quando a observabilidade do sistema restringe-se a um trace de memória para cada processador, tal como ocorre em um checker dinâmico pós-silício. Esses checkers (baseados em inferências sobre traces) requerem o uso de backtracking para excluir falsos negativos. Por outro lado, checkers pré-silício podem se beneficiar da observabilidade ilimitada de representações de projeto para induzir um problema de verificação que pode ser resolvido em tempo polinomial (sem o uso de backtracking) e com plenas garantias de verificação (sem falsos negativos nem falsos positivos). Esta dissertação faz uma avaliação experimental comparativa de checkers dinâmicos baseados em diferentes mecanismos (inferências, emparelhamento em grafo bipartido, scoreboard única e múltiplas scoreboards). Os checkers são comparados para exatamente o mesmo conjunto de casos de teste: 200 programas paralelos não sincronizados, gerados de forma pseudo-aleatória, obtidos variando a frequência de ocorrência de instruções (4 mixes), o número de endereços compartilhados (entre 2 e 32) e o número total de operações de memória (entre 250 e 64K). A partir de uma mesma representação pré-validada do sistema, foram construídas oito representações derivadas, cada uma contendo um erro de projeto distinto. Para reproduzir condições compatíveis com as tendências arquiteturais, os checkers foram comparados ao verificar um modelo com máxima relaxação de ordem de programa (bastante similar ao usado, por exemplo, nas arquiteturas Alpha e ARMv7) para sistemas contendo de 2 a 32 núcleos de processamento. Não é do conhecimento do autor a existência na literatura de uma avaliação experimental tão ampla. Os resultados mostram a inviabilidade do uso de checkers baseados em inferências em tempo de projeto: têm o mais alto esforço computacional e a maior taxa de crescimento com o aumento do número de processadores. A avaliação indica que a forma mais eficiente de construir um checker pré-silício corresponde a uma observabilidade de três pontos de monitoramento por processador, ao uso de verificação on-the-fly (ao invés de análise post-mortem) e à utilização de múltiplos mecanismos para verificar separadamente e em paralelo os subespaços de verificação definidos pelo escopo individual de cada processador, enquanto os subespaços entre processadores são verificados globalmente. Como um desdobramento da avaliação experimental, a dissertação identifica uma deficiência comum a todos os checkers analisados: sua inadequação para verificar modelos de memória com fraca atomicidade de escrita, exatamente aqueles apontados como tendência e já presentes em arquiteturas recentes (e.g. ARMv8). Diante disso, a dissertação propõe algoritmos generalizados capazes de verificar tais modelos.Abstract: Chip multiprocessing under the growing demand for performance leads to agrowing number of processing cores, which interact through a complex shared memory hierarchy that must satisfy coherence and consistency requirements captured as a memory model in the hardware-software interface. Given an execution of a parallel program, verifying if the hierarchy complies to those requirements is an intractable problem when the system observability is limited to a memory trace per processor, as in dynamic post-silicon checkers.Those checkers (based on inferences over traces) require the use of backtracking to avoid false negatives. On the other hand, pre-silicon checkers may benefit from the unlimited observability of design representations to induce a verification problem that may be solved in polynomial time (without the use of backtracking) with full verification guarantees (i.e. neither false negatives nor false positives). This dissertation provides an experimental evaluation of dynamic checkers based on different mechanisms (inferences, bipartite graph matching, single scoreboard and multiple scoreboards). The checkers are compared under exactly the same set of test cases: 200 non-synchronized parallel programs, generated pseudo-randomly, obtained by varying the frequency of instructions (4 mixes), the number of shared addresses (between 2 and 32) and the total number of memory operations (between 250 and 64K). From the same pre-validated system representation, eight distinct representations were built, each one containing a single and unique design error. To reproduce conditions compatible with architectural trends, the checkers were compared while verifying a memory model with maximal relaxation of program order (similar, for example, to those used in Alpha and ARMv7 architectures) and systems containing 2 to 32 processing cores. To the author's best knowledge, no broader experimental evaluation is available in the literature. The results show that the use of inference-based checkers at design time is impractical: they have the highest computational effort and the highest rate of growth with the number of cores. The evaluation shows that the most efficient way of building a pre-silicon checker corresponds to three observable points per core, the use of on-the-fly analysis (instead of post-mortem) and the usage of multiple engines to check the verification subspaces defined by the scope of each processor independently and in parallel, while checking globally the inter-processor subspaces. As a spin-off from the experimental evaluation, the dissertation identifies a deficiency common to all analyzed checkers: their unsuitability to handle memory models with weak write atomicity, which are precisely those pointed out as the trend and are present in architectures already in the market (e.g. ARMv8). In face of this, the dissertation proposes generic algorithms capable of verifying such models

The trophy hunting of African lions: scale, current management practices and factors undermining sustainability

The trophy hunting of lions Panthera leo is contentious due to uncertainty concerning conservation impacts and because of highly polarised opinions about the practice. African lions are hunted across at least ∼558,000 km 2 , which comprises 27-32% of the lion range in countries where trophy hunting of the species is permitted. Consequently, trophy hunting has potential to impart significant positive or negative impacts on lions. Several studies have demonstrated that excessive trophy harvests have driven lion population declines. There have been several attempts by protectionist non-governmental organisations to reduce or preclude trophy hunting via restrictions on the import and export of lion trophies. We document the management of lion hunting in Africa and highlight challenges which need addressing to achieve sustainability. Problems include: unscientific bases for quota setting; excessive quotas and off-takes in some countries; fixed quotas which encourage over-harvest; and lack of restrictions on the age of lions that can be hunted. Key interventions needed to make lion hunting more sustainable, include implementation of: enforced age restrictions; improved trophy monitoring; adaptive management of quotas and a minimum length of lion hunts of at least 21 days. Some range states have made important steps towards implementing such improved management and off-takes have fallen steeply in recent years. For example age restrictions have been introduced in Tanzania and in Niassa in Mozambique, and are being considered for Benin and Zimbabwe, several states have reduced quotas, and Zimbabwe is implementing trophy monitoring. However, further reforms are needed to ensure sustainability and reduce conservation problems associated with the practice while allowing retention of associated financial incentives for conservation

Walking with lions: why there is no role for captive-origin lions Panthera leo in species restoration

Despite formidable challenges and few successes in reintroducing large cats from captivity to the wild, the release of captives has widespread support from the general public and local governments, and continues to occur ad hoc. Commercial so-called lion Panthera leo encounter operations in Africa exemplify the issue, in which the captive breeding of the lion is linked to claims of reintroduction and broader conservation outcomes. In this article we assess the capacity of such programmes to contribute to in situ lion conservation. By highlighting the availability of wild founders, the unsuitability of captive lions for release and the evidence-based success of wild-wild lion translocations, we show that captive-origin lions have no role in species restoration. We also argue that approaches to reintroduction exemplified by the lion encounter industry do not address the reasons for the decline of lions in situ, nor do they represent a model that can be widely applied to restoration of threatened felids elsewher

Life after Cecil : channelling global outrage into funding for conservation in Africa

Trophy hunting is widely used in Africa to generate funding for wildlife areas. In 2015, a global media frenzy resulted from the illegal killing of a radiocollared lion, “Cecil,” by a trophy hunter in Zimbabwe. Trophy hunting is contentious and much of the media discourse is emotional and polarized, focusing on animal welfare and debating the value of hunting as a conservation tool. We use the Cecil incident to urge a change in the focus of discussion and make a call for global action.We highlight the dual challenge to African governments posed by the need to fund vast wildlife estates and provide incentives for conservation by communities in the context of growing human populations and competing priorities. With or without trophy hunting, Africa’s wildlife areas require much more funding to prevent serious biodiversity loss. In light of this, we urge a shift away from perpetual debates over trophy hunting to the more pressing question of “How do we fund Africa’s wildlife areas adequately?” We urge the international community to greatly increase funding and technical support for Africa’s wildlife estate. Concurrently, we encourage African governments and hunters to take decisive steps to reform hunting industries and address challenges associated with that revenue generating option.http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1755-263Xam2017Mammal Research InstituteZoology and Entomolog

Camera trapping and spatially explicit capture-recapture for the monitoring and conservation management of lions: Insights from a globally important population in Tanzania

Accurate and precise estimates of population status are required to inform and evaluate conservation management and policy interventions. Although the lion (Panthera leo) is a charismatic species receiving increased conservation attention, robust status estimates are lacking for most populations. While for many large carnivores population density is often estimated through spatially explicit capture–recapture (SECR) applied to camera trap data, the lack of pelage patterns in lions has limited the application of this technique to the species. Here, we present one of the first applications of this methodology to lion, in Tanzania's Ruaha-Rungwa landscape, a stronghold for the species for which no empirical estimates of status are available. We deployed four camera trap grids across habitat and land management types, and we identified individual lions through whisker spots, scars and marks, and multiple additional features. Double-blind identification revealed low inter-observer variation in photo identification (92% agreement), due to the use of xenon-flash cameras and consistent framing and angles of photographs. Lion occurred at highest densities in a prey-rich area of Ruaha National Park (6.12 ± SE 0.94 per 100 km2), and at relatively high densities (4.06 ± SE 1.03 per 100 km2) in a community-managed area of similar riparian-grassland habitat. Miombo woodland in both photographic and trophy hunting areas sustained intermediate lion densities (1.75 ± SE 0.62 and 2.25 ± SE 0.52 per 100 km2, respectively). These are the first spatially explicit density estimates for lion in Tanzania, including the first for a trophy hunting and a community-managed area, and also provide some of the first insights into lion status in understudied miombo habitats. We discuss in detail the methodology employed, the potential for scaling-up over larger areas, and its limitations. We suggest that the method can be an important tool for lion monitoring and explore the implications of our findings for lion management

Notes on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Gabon

The distribution and status of small carnivore species in Gabon have never been comprehensively assessed. We collated data from general wildlife surveys, camera-trap and transect studies and analyses of bushmeat consumption and trade, to map their country-wide occurrence and assess current exploitation levels. Records of Common Slender Mongoose Herpestes sanguineus and Cameroon Cusimanse Crossarchus platycephalus represent the first confirmation of their occurrence in Gabon. Cameroon Cusimanse was believed to extend into north-east Gabon, but the Slender Mongoose records extend its known range well outside that previously suspected. We furthermore extended the known range for Egyptian Mongoose Herpestes ichneumon. Crested Genet Genetta cristata has also been proposed to occur in Gabon but our records were not suited to evaluating this possibility given the difficulties of separation from Servaline Genet G. servalina. Most species appear to be distributed widely across the country. While several are commonly recorded in hunter catch and bushmeat markets, they form only a small proportion (3.4% and 3.1%, respectively) of all bushmeat records. However, in proximity to settlements, small carnivore exploitation, for bushmeat and use of body parts in traditional ceremonies, appears to have adverse effects on species richness and abundance

New range limits of the sun-tailed monkey, Cercopithecus solatus, in Central Gabon

Cercopithecus solatus is a recently discovered monkey endemic to Gabon, present in parts of the Lopé National Park and the Forêt des Abeilles in the center of the country. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List (2010) due to its restricted extent of occurrence and continuing decline in population caused by high hunting pressure. All known field observations of this species are compiled here. Data collected since 1999 show that C. solatus occurs further to the south, east, and west than was previously known, and that its extent of occurrence almost certainly includes three national parks, rather than one