.. index:: fix balance

fix balance command
===================

Syntax
""""""

.. parsed-literal::

   fix ID group-ID balance Nfreq thresh style args keyword args ...

* ID, group-ID are documented in :doc:`fix <fix>` command
* balance = style name of this fix command
* Nfreq = perform dynamic load balancing every this many steps
* thresh = imbalance threshold that must be exceeded to perform a re-balance
* style = *shift* or *rcb*

  .. parsed-literal::

       shift args = dimstr Niter stopthresh
         dimstr = sequence of letters containing "x" or "y" or "z", each not more than once
         Niter = # of times to iterate within each dimension of dimstr sequence
         stopthresh = stop balancing when this imbalance threshold is reached
       *rcb* args = none

* zero or more keyword/arg pairs may be appended
* keyword = *weight* or *out*

  .. parsed-literal::

       *weight* style args = use weighted particle counts for the balancing
         *style* = *group* or *neigh* or *time* or *var* or *store*
           *group* args = Ngroup group1 weight1 group2 weight2 ...
             Ngroup = number of groups with assigned weights
             group1, group2, ... = group IDs
             weight1, weight2, ...   = corresponding weight factors
           *neigh* factor = compute weight based on number of neighbors
             factor = scaling factor (> 0)
           *time* factor = compute weight based on time spend computing
             factor = scaling factor (> 0)
           *var* name = take weight from atom-style variable
             name = name of the atom-style variable
           *store* name = store weight in custom atom property defined by :doc:`fix property/atom <fix_property_atom>` command
             name = atom property name (without d\_ prefix)
       *out* arg = filename
         filename = write each processor's sub-domain to a file, at each re-balancing

Examples
""""""""

.. code-block:: LAMMPS

   fix 2 all balance 1000 1.05 shift x 10 1.05
   fix 2 all balance 100 0.9 shift xy 20 1.1 out tmp.balance
   fix 2 all balance 100 0.9 shift xy 20 1.1 weight group 3 substrate 3.0 solvent 1.0 solute 0.8 out tmp.balance
   fix 2 all balance 100 1.0 shift x 10 1.1 weight time 0.8
   fix 2 all balance 100 1.0 shift xy 5 1.1 weight var myweight weight neigh 0.6 weight store allweight
   fix 2 all balance 1000 1.1 rcb

Description
"""""""""""

This command adjusts the size and shape of processor sub-domains
within the simulation box, to attempt to balance the number of
particles and thus the computational cost (load) evenly across
processors.  The load balancing is "dynamic" in the sense that
re-balancing is performed periodically during the simulation.  To
perform "static" balancing, before or between runs, see the
:doc:`balance <balance>` command.

Load-balancing is typically most useful if the particles in the
simulation box have a spatially-varying density distribution or
where the computational cost varies significantly between different
atoms. E.g. a model of a vapor/liquid interface, or a solid with
an irregular-shaped geometry containing void regions, or
:doc:`hybrid pair style simulations <pair_hybrid>` which combine
pair styles with different computational cost.  In these cases, the
LAMMPS default of dividing the simulation box volume into a
regular-spaced grid of 3d bricks, with one equal-volume sub-domain
per processor, may assign numbers of particles per processor in a
way that the computational effort varies significantly.  This can
lead to poor performance when the simulation is run in parallel.

The balancing can be performed with or without per-particle weighting.
With no weighting, the balancing attempts to assign an equal number of
particles to each processor.  With weighting, the balancing attempts
to assign an equal aggregate computational weight to each processor,
which typically induces a different number of atoms assigned to each
processor.

.. note::

   The weighting options listed above are documented with the
   :doc:`balance <balance>` command in :ref:`this section of the balance command <weighted_balance>` doc page.  That section
   describes the various weighting options and gives a few examples of
   how they can be used.  The weighting options are the same for both the
   fix balance and :doc:`balance <balance>` commands.

Note that the :doc:`processors <processors>` command allows some control
over how the box volume is split across processors.  Specifically, for
a Px by Py by Pz grid of processors, it allows choice of Px, Py, and
Pz, subject to the constraint that Px \* Py \* Pz = P, the total number
of processors.  This is sufficient to achieve good load-balance for
some problems on some processor counts.  However, all the processor
sub-domains will still have the same shape and same volume.

On a particular timestep, a load-balancing operation is only performed
if the current "imbalance factor" in particles owned by each processor
exceeds the specified *thresh* parameter.  The imbalance factor is
defined as the maximum number of particles (or weight) owned by any
processor, divided by the average number of particles (or weight) per
processor.  Thus an imbalance factor of 1.0 is perfect balance.

As an example, for 10000 particles running on 10 processors, if the
most heavily loaded processor has 1200 particles, then the factor is
1.2, meaning there is a 20% imbalance.  Note that re-balances can be
forced even if the current balance is perfect (1.0) be specifying a
*thresh* < 1.0.

.. note::

   This command attempts to minimize the imbalance factor, as
   defined above.  But depending on the method a perfect balance (1.0)
   may not be achieved.  For example, "grid" methods (defined below) that
   create a logical 3d grid cannot achieve perfect balance for many
   irregular distributions of particles.  Likewise, if a portion of the
   system is a perfect lattice, e.g. the initial system is generated by
   the :doc:`create_atoms <create_atoms>` command, then "grid" methods may
   be unable to achieve exact balance.  This is because entire lattice
   planes will be owned or not owned by a single processor.

.. note::

   The imbalance factor is also an estimate of the maximum speed-up
   you can hope to achieve by running a perfectly balanced simulation
   versus an imbalanced one.  In the example above, the 10000 particle
   simulation could run up to 20% faster if it were perfectly balanced,
   versus when imbalanced.  However, computational cost is not strictly
   proportional to particle count, and changing the relative size and
   shape of processor sub-domains may lead to additional computational
   and communication overheads, e.g. in the PPPM solver used via the
   :doc:`kspace_style <kspace_style>` command.  Thus you should benchmark
   the run times of a simulation before and after balancing.

----------

The method used to perform a load balance is specified by one of the
listed styles, which are described in detail below.  There are 2 kinds
of styles.

The *shift* style is a "grid" method which produces a logical 3d grid
of processors.  It operates by changing the cutting planes (or lines)
between processors in 3d (or 2d), to adjust the volume (area in 2d)
assigned to each processor, as in the following 2d diagram where
processor sub-domains are shown and atoms are colored by the processor
that owns them.

.. list-table::

   * - .. figure:: JPG/balance_uniform_small.jpg
          :target: JPG/balance_uniform.jpg

     - .. figure:: JPG/balance_nonuniform_small.jpg
          :target: JPG/balance_nonuniform.jpg

     - .. figure:: JPG/balance_rcb_small.jpg
          :target: JPG/balance_rcb.jpg

The leftmost diagram is the default partitioning of the simulation box
across processors (one sub-box for each of 16 processors); the middle
diagram is after a "grid" method has been applied. The *rcb* style is a
"tiling" method which does not produce a logical 3d grid of processors.
Rather it tiles the simulation domain with rectangular sub-boxes of
varying size and shape in an irregular fashion so as to have equal
numbers of particles (or weight) in each sub-box, as in the rightmost
diagram above.

The "grid" methods can be used with either of the
:doc:`comm_style <comm_style>` command options, *brick* or *tiled*\ .  The
"tiling" methods can only be used with :doc:`comm_style tiled <comm_style>`.

When a "grid" method is specified, the current domain partitioning can
be either a logical 3d grid or a tiled partitioning.  In the former
case, the current logical 3d grid is used as a starting point and
changes are made to improve the imbalance factor.  In the latter case,
the tiled partitioning is discarded and a logical 3d grid is created
with uniform spacing in all dimensions.  This is the starting point
for the balancing operation.

When a "tiling" method is specified, the current domain partitioning
("grid" or "tiled") is ignored, and a new partitioning is computed
from scratch.

----------

The *group-ID* is ignored.  However the impact of balancing on
different groups of atoms can be affected by using the *group* weight
style as described below.

The *Nfreq* setting determines how often a re-balance is performed.  If
*Nfreq* > 0, then re-balancing will occur every *Nfreq* steps.  Each
time a re-balance occurs, a reneighboring is triggered, so *Nfreq*
should not be too small.  If *Nfreq* = 0, then re-balancing will be
done every time reneighboring normally occurs, as determined by the
the :doc:`neighbor <neighbor>` and :doc:`neigh_modify <neigh_modify>`
command settings.

On re-balance steps, re-balancing will only be attempted if the current
imbalance factor, as defined above, exceeds the *thresh* setting.

----------

The *shift* style invokes a "grid" method for balancing, as described
above.  It changes the positions of cutting planes between processors
in an iterative fashion, seeking to reduce the imbalance factor.

The *dimstr* argument is a string of characters, each of which must be
an "x" or "y" or "z".  Eacn character can appear zero or one time,
since there is no advantage to balancing on a dimension more than
once.  You should normally only list dimensions where you expect there
to be a density variation in the particles.

Balancing proceeds by adjusting the cutting planes in each of the
dimensions listed in *dimstr*\ , one dimension at a time.  For a single
dimension, the balancing operation (described below) is iterated on up
to *Niter* times.  After each dimension finishes, the imbalance factor
is re-computed, and the balancing operation halts if the *stopthresh*
criterion is met.

A re-balance operation in a single dimension is performed using a
density-dependent recursive multisectioning algorithm, where the
position of each cutting plane (line in 2d) in the dimension is
adjusted independently.  This is similar to a recursive bisectioning
for a single value, except that the bounds used for each bisectioning
take advantage of information from neighboring cuts if possible, as
well as counts of particles at the bounds on either side of each cuts,
which themselves were cuts in previous iterations.  The latter is used
to infer a density of particles near each of the current cuts.  At
each iteration, the count of particles on either side of each plane is
tallied.  If the counts do not match the target value for the plane,
the position of the cut is adjusted based on the local density.  The
low and high bounds are adjusted on each iteration, using new count
information, so that they become closer together over time.  Thus as
the recursion progresses, the count of particles on either side of the
plane gets closer to the target value.

The density-dependent part of this algorithm is often an advantage
when you re-balance a system that is already nearly balanced.  It
typically converges more quickly than the geometric bisectioning
algorithm used by the :doc:`balance <balance>` command.  However, if can
be a disadvantage if you attempt to re-balance a system that is far
from balanced, and converge more slowly.  In this case you probably
want to use the :doc:`balance <balance>` command before starting a run,
so that you begin the run with a balanced system.

Once the re-balancing is complete and final processor sub-domains
assigned, particles migrate to their new owning processor as part of
the normal reneighboring procedure.

.. note::

   At each re-balance operation, the bisectioning for each cutting
   plane (line in 2d) typically starts with low and high bounds separated
   by the extent of a processor's sub-domain in one dimension.  The size
   of this bracketing region shrinks based on the local density, as
   described above, which should typically be 1/2 or more every
   iteration.  Thus if *Niter* is specified as 10, the cutting plane will
   typically be positioned to better than 1 part in 1000 accuracy
   (relative to the perfect target position).  For *Niter* = 20, it will
   be accurate to better than 1 part in a million.  Thus there is no need
   to set *Niter* to a large value.  This is especially true if you are
   re-balancing often enough that each time you expect only an incremental
   adjustment in the cutting planes is necessary.  LAMMPS will check if
   the threshold accuracy is reached (in a dimension) is less iterations
   than *Niter* and exit early.

----------

The *rcb* style invokes a "tiled" method for balancing, as described
above.  It performs a recursive coordinate bisectioning (RCB) of the
simulation domain. The basic idea is as follows.

The simulation domain is cut into 2 boxes by an axis-aligned cut in
the longest dimension, leaving one new box on either side of the cut.
All the processors are also partitioned into 2 groups, half assigned
to the box on the lower side of the cut, and half to the box on the
upper side.  (If the processor count is odd, one side gets an extra
processor.)  The cut is positioned so that the number of atoms in the
lower box is exactly the number that the processors assigned to that
box should own for load balance to be perfect.  This also makes load
balance for the upper box perfect.  The positioning is done
iteratively, by a bisectioning method.  Note that counting atoms on
either side of the cut requires communication between all processors
at each iteration.

That is the procedure for the first cut.  Subsequent cuts are made
recursively, in exactly the same manner.  The subset of processors
assigned to each box make a new cut in the longest dimension of that
box, splitting the box, the subset of processors, and the atoms in
the box in two.  The recursion continues until every processor is
assigned a sub-box of the entire simulation domain, and owns the atoms
in that sub-box.

----------

The *out* keyword writes text to the specified *filename* with the
results of each re-balancing operation.  The file contains the bounds
of the sub-domain for each processor after the balancing operation
completes.  The format of the file is compatible with the
`Pizza.py <pizza_>`_ *mdump* tool which has support for manipulating and
visualizing mesh files.  An example is shown here for a balancing by 4
processors for a 2d problem:

.. parsed-literal::

   ITEM: TIMESTEP
   0
   ITEM: NUMBER OF NODES
   16
   ITEM: BOX BOUNDS
   0 10
   0 10
   0 10
   ITEM: NODES
   1 1 0 0 0
   2 1 5 0 0
   3 1 5 5 0
   4 1 0 5 0
   5 1 5 0 0
   6 1 10 0 0
   7 1 10 5 0
   8 1 5 5 0
   9 1 0 5 0
   10 1 5 5 0
   11 1 5 10 0
   12 1 10 5 0
   13 1 5 5 0
   14 1 10 5 0
   15 1 10 10 0
   16 1 5 10 0
   ITEM: TIMESTEP
   0
   ITEM: NUMBER OF SQUARES
   4
   ITEM: SQUARES
   1 1 1 2 3 4
   2 1 5 6 7 8
   3 1 9 10 11 12
   4 1 13 14 15 16

The coordinates of all the vertices are listed in the NODES section, 5
per processor.  Note that the 4 sub-domains share vertices, so there
will be duplicate nodes in the list.

The "SQUARES" section lists the node IDs of the 4 vertices in a
rectangle for each processor (1 to 4).

For a 3d problem, the syntax is similar with 8 vertices listed for
each processor, instead of 4, and "SQUARES" replaced by "CUBES".

----------

**Restart, fix_modify, output, run start/stop, minimize info:**

No information about this fix is written to :doc:`binary restart files <restart>`.  None of the :doc:`fix_modify <fix_modify>` options
are relevant to this fix.

This fix computes a global scalar which is the imbalance factor
after the most recent re-balance and a global vector of length 3 with
additional information about the most recent re-balancing.  The 3
values in the vector are as follows:

* 1 = max # of particles per processor
* 2 = total # iterations performed in last re-balance
* 3 = imbalance factor right before the last re-balance was performed

As explained above, the imbalance factor is the ratio of the maximum
number of particles (or total weight) on any processor to the average
number of particles (or total weight) per processor.

These quantities can be accessed by various :doc:`output commands <Howto_output>`.  The scalar and vector values calculated
by this fix are "intensive".

No parameter of this fix can be used with the *start/stop* keywords of
the :doc:`run <run>` command.  This fix is not invoked during :doc:`energy minimization <minimize>`.

----------

Restrictions
""""""""""""

For 2d simulations, the *z* style cannot be used.  Nor can a "z"
appear in *dimstr* for the *shift* style.

Balancing through recursive bisectioning (\ *rcb* style) requires
:doc:`comm_style tiled <comm_style>`

Related commands
""""""""""""""""

:doc:`group <group>`, :doc:`processors <processors>`, :doc:`balance <balance>`,
:doc:`comm_style <comm_style>`

.. _pizza: https://pizza.sandia.gov

**Default:** none
