MUSIC is a standard API allowing large scale neuron simulators to exchange data within a parallel computer during runtime.
A pilot implementation of this API has been released as open source. We provide experiences from the implementation of MUSIC
interfaces for two neuronal network simulators of different kinds, NEST and MOOSE. A multi-simulation of a cortico-striatal
network model involving both simulators is performed, demonstrating how MUSIC can promote inter-operability between models
written for different simulators and how these can be re-used to build a larger model system. Benchmarks show that the MUSIC
pilot implementation provides efficient data transfer in a cluster computer with good scaling. We conclude that MUSIC fulfills
the design goal that it should be simple to adapt existing simulators to use MUSIC. In addition, since the MUSIC API enforces
independence of the applications, the multi-simulation could be built from pluggable component modules without adaptation
of the components to each other in terms of simulation time-step or topology of connections between the modules.
Keywords MUSIC - Large-scale simulation - Computer simulation - Computational neuroscience - Neuronal network models - Inter-operability - MPI - Parallel processing
Johannes Hjorth and Jochen Eppler have contributed equally to the contents of the article.