Hi @mstimberg,
I am following up on my previous interest in the serialization/deserialization project for Brian2.
I have spent the last 24 hours setting up my environment and conducting proof-of-concept tests. I successfully implemented a basic serialization test for state variables, but I’ve identified a core challenge: while data serialization is straightforward, the true bottleneck for model portability lies in the serialization of the underlying model equations and parameter namespaces. Given my current work on Apache Fury (specifically focusing on high-performance serialization and Cython-based data streams), I am interested in how we might bridge the gap between Brian2’s internal representation and a portable, efficient format.
I’ve begun examining the basexporter in brian2tools to understand how we currently handle model structure. I have two specific questions to help me focus my proposal:
- Is the priority for this GSoC to focus on adopting a specific standard like HDF5/NWB for results, or are you looking for a more generalized serialization framework that supports multiple backends (like Apache Fury)?
- Are there specific simulation edge cases (e.g., complex spiking networks with heavy parameter namespaces) that you consider the ‘benchmark’ for serialization efficiency?
I look forward to your thoughts as I finalize my proposal.